G20 bemoans Ukraine war avoiding accusations against Russia; Ukraine slams G20

The G20 declaration, issued amidst the escalating Ukraine crisis, strongly asserted that the use of nuclear weapons is absolutely unacceptable.

This declaration holds significant weight, particularly in contrast to the earlier stance of Western nations that had been advocating for a more forceful condemnation of Russia's role in the Ukraine conflict.

In a notable shift from the language used in the previous year's Bali declaration, the 2023 declaration refers to the conflict as the "war in Ukraine," rather than the "war against Ukraine," suggesting a potential softening of the G7 and EU positions.

Furthermore, the declaration avoids direct mention of "Russia" in reference to the Russia-Ukraine war, marking another significant linguistic change in the document.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry expressed disappointment with the joint G20 declaration, labeling it as "nothing to be proud of" and criticizing its omission of any reference to Russia.

Oleg Nikolenko, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian foreign ministry, shared an edited image of the declaration on Twitter highlighting sections of the text that were revised to align with Ukraine's perspective.

This emphasized Ukraine's view that it is a victim of unwarranted Russian aggression.

“It is clear that the participation of the Ukrainian side (in the G20 meeting) would have allowed the participants to better understand the situation,” Nikolenko wrote on Facebook.

Nikolenko expressed disappointment with the overall content of the G20 document but thanked Ukraine's allies for their efforts in advocating for Ukraine's position within the declaration.

"Ukraine is grateful to the partners who tried to include strong formulations in the text," Nikolenko concluded.