Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized on Friday the turn of the G20 ministerial meeting in Indonesia into rabid criticism of Moscow over the Ukraine war, while his US counterpart, Anthony Blinken, said that the countries participating in the meeting issued strong calls for an end to the war.

"Today we heard a lot of phrases, such as aggressors, invaders, occupiers," Lavrov said in a press statement, referring to Western countries' accusations that Russia had attacked Ukraine's sovereignty after it launched a war on its neighbor on February 24.

He added that during the meeting of foreign ministers of the twenty countries today, "Western partners avoided committing to the tasks of the Group of Twenty, which is to discuss issues of the global economy," criticizing "the directing of frenzied criticism against Russia instead of discussing economic problems."

Lavrov said he would not "go behind" the United States for talks after his counterpart Blinken refused to meet with him during the G20 meeting hosted by the Indonesian island of Bali.

Ending the war

On the other hand, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Friday that Russia had heard at the G-20 meeting a "chorus" calling for it to end the war in Ukraine.

"We heard strong calls from the world, not from the United States, to end the aggression," Blinken added after meeting with his Indian counterpart Subramaniam Jaishankar on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.

The United States will seize the opportunity of the G20 meeting to launch a campaign aimed at isolating Russia as much as possible on the international scene, especially among developing countries, especially India.

Bloomberg reported, citing a senior State Department official, that the United States may seek to forge agreements with countries supporting Ukraine during the G20 foreign ministers meeting.

The official said Washington did not expect the meeting to be able to reach a consensus on Russia's war on Ukraine.

Indonesian Foreign Minister: It is our responsibility to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible and settle differences through negotiation (Anatolia)

Earlier on Friday, Indonesia called on the host country at the opening of this year's G20 meeting to end the war in Ukraine, and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said, "It is our responsibility to end the war as soon as possible and settle our differences at the negotiating table, not on the battlefield."

The Indonesian minister added that the repercussions of the Ukraine war "are visible all over the world in terms of food, energy and budgets, and as usual, poor and developing countries are the most affected."

The United States, backed by its Western allies, called for Russia to be excluded from international forums, including the Group of Twenty, but Indonesia - which wants to maintain a neutral position - as the host country of the Group of Twenty confirmed its invitation to the Russian Foreign Minister.

Prelude to the summit

Today's ministerial meeting paves the way for the summit of the G20 leaders next November, and the summit meetings were supposed to be devoted to discussing ways to ensure a global economic recovery after the Corona virus pandemic, but the Ukraine war and its global repercussions affected the agenda of the meetings.

In a related context, on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and held talks dominated by the Ukraine war. Lavrov told Wang that Russia has received "understanding and support" from a growing number of countries in the world in the face of the "aggressive approach of the Westerners."

For his part, the Chinese foreign minister described his country's relations with Russia as enjoying high flexibility, adding that the two countries have maintained normal trade exchanges in various fields, and that China supports all efforts that will lead to a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis.