Leaders of the countries that belong to the G20 have gathered in Bali, Indonesia for a two-day summit. The summit starts today, Tuesday, November 15, 2022 and will end tomorrow, Wednesday, November 16, 2022.
This year’s summit is hosted by Indonesia and the theme is ‘Recover Together, Recover Stronger’. The G20 leaders will discuss, among other topics, the three priorities of Indonesia’s G20 presidency: global health, architecture and digital transformations.
The G20, or Group of Twenty, is a club of countries which meets to discuss plans for the global economy. Among them, G20 countries account for about 85% of the world’s economic output and 75% of world trade. They contain two-thirds of the global population. Every year, a different G20 member state takes over the presidency and sets the agenda for meetings.
As 2022 president, Indonesia wants the Bali summit to concentrate on global health measures and economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic. It also wants to promote the adoption of sustainable energy. Also, this year’s meeting is expected to take steps to address food security affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Indonesian President and G20 chair, Joko Widodo officially opened the G20 summit on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 telling world leaders in his opening remarks that the war in Ukraine “must end”.
“If the war does not end, it will be difficult for us to move on. We should not divide the world into parts,” he said. “We must not allow the world to fall into another Cold War.”
A senior U.S. administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, disclosed that the summit’s final report will make clear that “most” of the countries condemn Russia’s invasion in Ukraine and the toll it has taken on global food and energy supplies.
Russia’s War Must Be Stopped
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for Russia’s “destructive war” to end.
“I am convinced now is the time when the Russian destructive war must and can be stopped. It will save thousands of lives,” he told the G20 summit in Bali via video address on Tuesday, November 15, 2022.
He addressed leaders like US President Biden and Chinese leader Xi and made a point of leaving out Russia. “There cannot be any excuses for nuclear blackmail,” he added, specifically thanking the “G19”and excluding Russia.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky had made a triumphant visit to the newly liberated city of Kherson on Monday, November 14, 2022 describing the Russian withdrawal as the “beginning of the end of the war” but also taking account of the heavy price Ukrainian soldiers are paying in their great effort to push back the invading force.
The recovery of Kherson was one of Ukraine’s biggest successes in nearly nine months since the invasion. “This is the beginning of the end of the war. We are step by step coming to all the temporarily occupied territories,” Zelensky announced.
Presently, Russian President Vladimir Putin is not attending the G20 summit, but his foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is there instead.
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