Blinken: G20 "spoke as one" on Russia's war against Ukraine

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has said that the G20 "spoke as one" on the issue of Russia's war against Ukraine. This is how he commented on the criticism of the joint declaration signed by the G20 countries during the summit in India.

A CNN journalist asked U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken why the U.S. agreed to a watered-down version of the G20 declaration that did not even condemn Russia by name or explicitly call for Russia to leave Ukraine.

In response, Blinken said that all G20 countries, in their statement, stood up for the importance of territorial integrity and sovereignty.

"I was in the room when all the leaders spoke today with President Biden, and it was very clear from everything that they said that not only do they want to see this war end, but they want to see it end on just and durable terms," Blinken said.

In a joint communiqué, the leaders of the countries participating in the summit did not condemn Russia's war against Ukraine but instead "drew attention to the human suffering and additional negative consequences of the war in Ukraine."

After the summit, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko said that Ukraine was grateful to its partners who tried to include strong language in the text. But the G20 countries "have nothing to be proud of".

Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AP