Those cracks became apparent last week when top economic policymakers from the Group of 20 countries gathered for two days at a resort in Bengaluru, a city in southern India where efforts to show unity were overshadowed by rising tensions over Russia. During the summit, Western countries slapped new sanctions on Moscow and unveiled more economic support for Ukraine, while developing countries such as India, which have been taking advantage of cheap Russian oil, protested to express criticism. .
The differing views left officials struggling to string together the traditional joint statement, or dialogue, on Saturday, forcing senior representatives of the Group of 7 nations to try to convince reluctant counterparts from the world’s most advanced economies. felt that defending Ukraine was worth the cost.
A summary of the meeting released in the afternoon said that “the majority of members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine” but “had other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions.” The statement noted that Russia and China refused to sign the parts of the summary that referred to the war in Ukraine.
In a clear sign of the tension surrounding the discussion, the statement said the G-20 was “not a forum to address security issues,” but that members “recognize that security issues can have significant consequences for the global economy.” “
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in an interview on Saturday that she had tried to make the case for a joint response to more reluctant countries. “Ukraine is fighting not only for its country, but for the preservation of democracy and peaceful conditions in Europe,” she said, “It is an attack on democracy and territorial integrity that should concern all of us.”
The summit took place at a critical moment for the global economy. The International Monetary Fund last month upgraded its global output projections but warned that Russia’s war in Ukraine continued to cast a cloud of uncertainty. The fund also noted that increasing “fragmentation” in the world could impact growth in the future.
Yellen was the most vocal critic of Russia during the two-day meeting. At one point, he directly confronted senior Russian officials in a private session and called them “participants” in the Kremlin’s atrocities.
Battling over how to characterize Russia’s actions, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire publicly expressed his frustration with some countries that would not attack Russia in writing. He said that when the leaders of the G-20 nations met in Bali, Indonesia, in November, their statement stressed that most members strongly condemn the war, and he said on Friday that he would try to soften that sentiment. were against.
“I want to make it very clear that we will oppose any move from the leaders’ statement in Bali on this question of war in Ukraine,” Le Maire, who declined to name the holdouts, told a news conference. “We strongly condemn this illegal and brutal attack against Ukraine.”
India’s close economic ties with Russia make India’s role as host of the G-20 this year particularly challenging. Moscow is a major supplier of energy and military equipment to India, while the United States is India’s largest trading partner.
to be neutral, India Tried to avoid describing the conflict as a “war” and instead focused on other issues. In the opening address of the summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi He laid out threats to the global economy, but made no mention of Russia, pointing to “rising geopolitical tensions in many parts of the world”.
Some resistance to condemning Russia is due to concern about the United States using its economic power to isolate a member of the G-20.
“The fact that the US apparently has so much power to act against a geopolitical rival,” said Ishwar Prasad, professor of trade policy at Cornell University, “is a significant concern.” “Clearly the G-20 has split.”
Prasad said the aggressive use of sanctions by the United States has raised concerns among other countries — even if they disagree with Russia’s actions — that they could someday face Washington’s wrath.
That use of economic warfare was on display on Friday, when the United States imposed sanctions on more than 200 individuals and entities in Russia and other countries helping to financially support Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions were also imposed on Russia’s metals and mining sector and energy companies.
The war in Ukraine was not the only issue that consumed India’s finance ministers last week.
The United States and Europe continue to be at odds over American subsidies for electric vehicles, which European countries believe will hurt their economies. A global tax deal that was due for 2021 continues to falter, raising the prospect that it could unravel. And talks on restructuring the debt burden facing poor countries to avoid a cascade of defaults have failed to bear fruit, largely due to resistance from China.
“I don’t see any significant change,” said Yellen, who last week expressed dismay over China’s role as a roadblock.
But it is the war in Ukraine that has most divided the world’s economic leaders. The opposition to supporting Ukraine and confronting Russia is the result of complex domestic politics in many countries, and the United States is no exception.
A growing number of Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have been arguing in recent weeks that the United States cannot support Ukraine endlessly. They argue that at a time when the United States is burdened with record levels of debt and a weakening economy, that money would be better spent on domestic problems.
Over the past year, the United States has provided Ukraine with more than $100 billion in humanitarian, financial, and military assistance. The Congressional Budget Office estimated last week that the United States was on track to add nearly $19 trillion to its national debt over the next decade, $3 trillion more than an earlier forecast.
For the Biden administration, withdrawing aid to Ukraine does not appear to be an option.
In the interview, Yellen argued that the United States could afford the cost and that supporting Ukraine was a priority for national security and economic reasons.
“The war is having an adverse effect on the entire global economy,” Yellen said, “and providing Ukraine with the support it needs to win and end it is certainly something we really can’t do.” ,
c.2023 The New York Times Company
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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