The developments of the Russian war in Ukraine dominated the meetings of the foreign ministers of the Group of Twenty, while more casualties fell in Donetsk as the Russian forces continued to advance in the separatist region of Donbass.
Today, Thursday, the Indonesian island of Bali witnessed a number of bilateral meetings of the G-20 foreign ministers before the start of their summit meeting tomorrow, which will come two and a half years after the Corona epidemic, and discuss dealing with global energy and food challenges.
The Russian war in Ukraine clouded the atmosphere of the meeting, in light of the friction between the Russian and Chinese positions on the one hand, and the US State Department’s call for the G-20 countries to adopt a decisive stance towards Russia regarding its war on Ukraine and the issue of Ukrainian grain exports on the other.
The summit, for the first time since the outbreak of the war, brought together Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with ministers of Western countries, accusing Moscow of committing war crimes in Ukraine;
The foreign ministers of the United States and Germany ruled out meeting Lavrov during their participation in the meetings.
Russian Foreign Minister and his Turkish counterpart meet in Bali today (Anadolu Agency)
tense atmosphere
On the sidelines of the meetings, the Russian Foreign Minister met his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, and a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Lavrov criticized Western support for Ukraine.
As for Cavusoglu, he said in a tweet on Twitter that he discussed with Lavrov the war in Ukraine and developments in Syria.
Lavrov also held another meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, where he briefed him on the progress of the military operation in Ukraine, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry statement.
For his part, a French diplomatic source said he expected a "fairly difficult confrontation" due to Lavrov's presence in Bali, adding, "Russia has chosen to participate at a time when it is violating many of the basic principles of the Group of Twenty, which are cooperation and dialogue and addressing differences through Peaceful methods, not force.
The source explained that French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and her European counterparts will not make sure that things take place as if nothing happened during the discussions, and that they will respond to "the lies and the Russian narrative that seeks to transfer the cause of the unrest from aggression to the international response, especially the European and from the Group of Seven, to This aggression."
The French diplomat confirmed that no joint statement would be issued at the end of the meetings due to Russia's participation, which was also reported by a US official.
Dead and battles
On the field level, the authorities of the city of Kramatorsk, the center of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, said that an air strike caused the death of one person and the injury of others, as well as damage to a hotel and residential buildings.
The governor of the Donetsk region had reported the killing of at least 7 civilians the previous day, as Russia sought to complete its control of the neighboring Lugansk region, and then invaded Donetsk, with the aim of controlling the entire mining basin in Donbass with the support of the separatists.
The city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine was also subjected to Russian bombardment again, which caused damage to government and residential buildings.
The Ukrainian General Staff said that Russian forces are moving more units to Luhansk, and Ukrainian officials confirmed yesterday that fighting is raging on the northern border between the Lugansk and Donetsk regions.
Earlier, the Ukrainian army said that it was making progress on the southern front, especially in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, where it managed to kill 38 Russian soldiers, and destroyed ammunition and fuel depots.
Ukrainian soldiers raise their country's flag on Snake Island (Anadolu Agency)
On the other hand, the Ukrainian forces raised their flag today on the Serpent Island in the Black Sea, which they recovered from the Russians a week ago, and the Ukrainian Interior Ministry published a picture of the ceremony on Twitter with the phrase "Glory to the Ukrainian soldiers."
Moscow responded quickly by saying that one of its warplanes bombed the island shortly after the ceremony, and eliminated a number of Ukrainian soldiers there.
The administration of Ukraine's Odessa region said that a Russian missile strike targeted the island and caused significant damage to the dock.
food crisis
On the other hand, the administration of the Odessa region said that two Russian shells destroyed two granaries in the region, which contained 35 tons of grain.
And the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said today, Thursday, that Turkey had allowed the Russian ship (Gebek Jolly), which was loaded with “stolen” Ukrainian grain, to leave the port of Karasu.
"The Turkish ambassador to Kyiv will be summoned to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to clarify this unacceptable situation," she added.
Meanwhile, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed by phone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, developments in Ukraine and the grain export file, including the Russian ship.
A week ago, the Ukrainian ambassador to Ankara Vasyl Bodnar said that "the ship coming from the occupied port of Berdyansk entered the Turkish port of Karasu, and at the request of the Ukrainian prosecutor, we asked the Turkish side to take the necessary measures."