Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that the G-20 finance ministers agreed on the need to address an imminent global food crisis, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed, with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, the decisions of the quartet meeting in Istanbul on the transport of Ukrainian grain.
The minister added in a press conference after the conclusion of the meeting, which was held on the Indonesian island of Bali, that the ministers were divided over how to deal with the repercussions of the Russian war on Ukraine.
Indrawati said that all participants in the meeting agreed that food insecurity needs attention, intervention and policy, and they discussed how to address food chain supply disruptions, but some participants insisted on including countries' views on this war.
On Saturday, the finance ministers of the Group of 20 countries concluded their meeting in Indonesia without issuing a joint statement, as it was not possible to reach a consensus on the way to deal with the file of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In turn, Reuters reported, quoting one of the finance ministers of the Group of 20, what he described as achieving strong consensus on several international issues, including global food security, during the two-day meeting of the group's ministers.
The minister pointed out that the divisions among the participants over Russia's war on Ukraine remained.
For her part, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the differences prevented the finance ministers and central bank chiefs from issuing an official statement.
She added that the group agreed on the need to address the worsening food security crisis, as she put it.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov participated in the meeting via video technology, while two Russian officials attended.
Despite the absence of consensus, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva called on the G20 member states to "make every effort in their power to reduce inflation", adjust their monetary policies and cooperate with each other, in a statement published after the meeting.
In order to address the growing threats to food security in the world, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Food Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Trade Organization called in a joint statement for urgent action in 4 key areas.
Turkish efforts
In a related context, the Turkish presidency said that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan informed his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron of the decision to establish a coordination center that includes officials from Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations, to manage the Ukrainian grain export process.
Erdogan added, according to a statement by the Turkish presidency, that the center's action plan will be implemented quickly to achieve a major breakthrough in global food security.
On Wednesday, the city of Istanbul hosted a military meeting with the participation of officials from Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations, to discuss the transportation of stuck grain in Ukrainian ports.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced that the meeting had agreed to establish a coordination center in Istanbul, which would include representatives of the concerned parties.
Regarding the SAMP-T air defense system, Erdogan said that Turkey's aspirations are to ensure the launch of a joint defense system supply and development project, which includes maximum cooperation, within the framework of the principle of "complete openness".