“Turn into a club of interests”: why the head of the EC opposed the boycott of the G20 summit if Russia participates

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, opposed the boycott of the G20 summit if Russian President Vladimir Putin participates in it.

She stated this in an interview with the German TV channel ZDF.

“We need to think very specifically about whether we intend to paralyze the work of the entire G20.

I don't support it.

I think this is a very important meeting.

It seems to me that it would be better to tell him, if he arrives, in person what we think of his actions, showing our position.

From my point of view, the G20 is too important, especially for developing countries, so we should not destroy the work of this association because of Putin,” von der Leyen said, adding that “everything as usual” will not be.

After that, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the ZDF television channel that Berlin would decide whether to boycott the G20 or not closer to the date of the event, which is scheduled for November.

“We will make a final decision shortly before sending (to the summit.

), because by that time the situation in the world can change very significantly.

But one thing is clear: the G20 plays a big role, and we want to work closely with it.

All states here agree with this.

We have a common conviction, also expressed by Mrs. von der Leyen, that we should not torpedo the G20,” Scholz said.

On June 27, an aide to the Russian leader, Yuri Ushakov, said that Moscow had confirmed Putin's participation in the G20 summit.

Ushakov added that he cannot yet say whether it will be held in person or in another format.

Earlier, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said after a meeting with Scholz that the idea of ​​excluding Russia from the G20, given the characteristics of the G20, is not a topic that needs to be considered.

Fernandez also noted the need to maintain the G20 as a platform for negotiations with the Russian Federation.

In this context, the Argentine leader stated that anti-Russian sanctions have an extremely negative impact on the rest of the world, and on Argentina in particular.

Prior to this, China opposed the exclusion of Russia from the G20.

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, the Russian Federation is an important member of the G20 "and no member has the right to deprive another state of membership."

During the briefing, he emphasized that the G20 should work within a true multilateral format, and also "strengthen cohesion and cooperation, hand in hand to confront emerging difficulties."

In addition, Wenbin called the G20 an important platform for international cooperation between the world's major economies.

Washington Headache

Recall that the United States and its allies, in particular Poland and Canada, called for Russia to be excluded from the G20.

At the same time, Warsaw believes that it deserves a place in the G20 more.

In turn, the White House announced plans to discuss with the allies the idea of ​​such isolation of the Russian Federation.

According to Washington, the Russian side cannot continue to conduct its activities "in the usual mode in terms of international institutions and the international community."

Commenting on the US position on the issue of Russia's membership in the G20, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the United States continues "quite assertively its line of isolating Russia."

However, as he stressed, Washington's policy "is untenable and cannot achieve its goal."

• G20 in Rome

• AP

• © Evan Vucci

“The world is still much more diverse than the United States and European countries,” Peskov said.

- A large number of countries prefer a more balanced and sober approach to what is happening, they prefer to ask questions during a direct dialogue, agree with something, disagree with something, but not “cut the ropes”.

According to Western media reports, the United States has been trying to persuade Indonesia, which chairs the G20, to keep President Putin out of the summit.

However, official Jakarta nevertheless sent an invitation to Russia.

In April, at a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers, the US boycotted a speech by Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

The example of American colleagues was followed, among other things, by officials from Great Britain and Canada.

However, according to Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the departure of a number of representatives of Western countries from the G20 meeting due to the presence of Russia did not interfere with the discussion.

Later, Dmitry Peskov said that during a telephone conversation with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Vladimir Putin thanked him for the invitation to take part in the G20.

According to the press secretary of the Russian leader, Moscow will prepare for this summit, and will also "do everything possible to ensure that the Indonesian presidency is successful."

After that, on May 4, the American newspaper The Washington Post published an article in which it called the fact that Putin was invited to participate in the G20 a “headache” for the head of the White House, Joe Biden.

As the publication reported, Washington's attempts to present Russia as a "rogue" in the world are faced with a reality in which not all US partners are ready to cut ties with Moscow.

As Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Nikolai Korchunov noted in mid-June at SPIEF-2022, many G20 countries are showing interest in cooperation with the Russian Federation in various areas, including in the Arctic.

"Total of adequacy"

As Nikita Danyuk, deputy director of the RUDN Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts, member of the Russian Civic Chamber, noted, the statements of the head of the EC and the German chancellor indicate that the West has begun to realize the ineffectiveness of the boycott against the Russian Federation within the framework of the G20, which "will not give anything to the Western community."

“The West, wishing to limit the international relations of the Russian Federation, will itself find itself isolated and in an extremely disadvantageous position.

This has already been shown by the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers.

The United States and their other Western partners tried to impose their own rules, but they did not succeed, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.

Danyuk recalled that among the G20 countries there are states that believe that the current global system, including the financial one, is unfair.

“The West considers itself the master in it.

However, the world has long been multipolar.

Russia not only leads a tough confrontation with the Western world, but is also a country whose role model is very attractive to other states, including the rapidly developing ones that are part of the G20.

In particular, these are China, Argentina and Indonesia,” the analyst said.

• G20 in Rome

• AP

• © Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool

According to Danyuk, not only these states, but also Western countries have begun to realize that without Russia it is impossible to solve global problems, “starting with security and geopolitics, ending with economics and finance.”

“Without the participation of the Russian Federation, it is impossible to imagine that such tasks could be solved at the world level.

Without Russia, the G20 will cease to be a platform where it will be possible, at least, to try to somehow establish interaction between the leading countries of the world.

Without the participation of the Russian side, the G20 will turn into another interest club like the G7, which does not affect anything on the global agenda at all, ”the expert noted.

Danyuk also believes that Washington will react with restraint to the words of the head of the European Commission and the German chancellor about Russia's participation in the G20.

“The United States is the main “pioneers” of attempts to create a global isolation of Russia.

Washington intends to actively promote this topic among its allies, including among the G7 countries, but it will not have enough real power - political and geo-economic - at the G20 level.

Many G20 countries will continue to show interest in Russia, as they see that the Russian Federation is an influential world player that does not intend to live by the rules of a unipolar world led by the United States, ”the analyst said.

As political scientist Alexander Asafov noted in a RT commentary, in the West, despite all the anti-Russian rhetoric, they are well aware that Russia is “embedded in the global world” and that it is not possible to resolve pressing international issues without it.

“We live in an era of neopragmatism, when states, contrary to their own political rhetoric on various international platforms directed against Russia, are clearly aware that the world cannot cope with many problems without this country.

In particular, we are talking about issues related to world hunger: it is impossible to solve this problem without Russian fertilizers.

The same was reported to the UN, ”the expert believes.

According to Asafov, the statements of von der Leyen and Scholz, in particular, testify to the awareness of the European bureaucracy that the West, in its aspirations to “denigrate and cancel” Russia, has gone too far.

“Now the head of the EC and the German chancellor are trying to include at least a modicum of adequacy in the discussions about the participation of the Russian Federation in the G20.

At the same time, it is quite obvious that neither von der Leyen, nor Scholz, nor their American colleagues can in any way influence the course of the G20 summit, the composition of its participants or the coverage of this event in the media.

Nevertheless, we see how the West is trying to pretend that something depends on them, ”concluded the analyst.