The Ukrainian plan and Xi's conversation with Biden. The main thing about the G20 summit in Bali

Zelensky's peace plan, Russia's reaction to it, the historic meeting of the leaders of CHINA and the United States.The main thing about what is happening at the G20 summit - in the material of RBC

The Ukrainian conflict was one of the central topics on the first day of the G20 summit in Indonesia. Although Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky never arrived in Bali , the issue of the state of affairs in the region was raised by almost all participants in the summit.

Xi and Biden meeting

One of the most important events at the G20 summit was the talks between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The first-ever conversation between the leaders of the two countries has been repeatedly announced by the White House as an important step towards rapprochement between the positions of the two countries. The US and Chinese leaders ended up talking for more than three hours.

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There were no sensational statements following the talks; Biden, in the course of answering questions from journalists, touched on the Ukrainian topic. He called the occupation of Kherson by the Armed Forces of Ukraine "a significant victory for Kyiv." At the same time, he found it difficult to say what the consequences of this event would be, but promised to continue providing assistance to Ukraine.

Joe Biden and Xi Jinping (Photo: Li Xueren / Xinhua / Global Look Press)

In addition, Biden reiterated that the United States does not intend to negotiate with RUSSIA without the participation of Ukraine.

Xi Jinping, in turn, said that China is in favor of resuming Russian-Ukrainian negotiations. He also expressed hope that the US and the EU will help to resolve the conflict as soon as possible.

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New British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also planned to meet with the Chinese leader. However, the negotiations were canceled on the initiative of London due to a rocket explosion in Poland.

Negotiations between Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ended with a small scandal. According to the CBC, the Chinese leader accused a colleague of leaking details of their confidential conversation to the press. “This is not how negotiations are conducted,” Xi said. Trudeau, however, did not agree with the leader of the PRC and, in response, said that in a modern open society, dialogue should be honest.

Trudeau himself told the press that during the conversation, for example, he discussed the hidden Chinese support for several candidates in CANADA during the 2019 elections.

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Zelensky's speech and Russia's response

On November 15, the Ukrainian President addressed the participants of the summit in Bali in an online format. His country is not a member of the G20, but Zelensky received an invitation from Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

According to BLOOMBERG, Sergey Lavrov, the HEAD of the Russian delegation to Bali, also agreed to listen to Zelensky.

The Ukrainian president announced ten conditions of the "peace formula".

radiation and nuclear safety; food security; energy security; release of all prisoners and deportees; implementation of the UN Charter and restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and world order; the withdrawal of Russian troops and the cessation of hostilities; return of justice; counteraction to ecocide (destruction of flora and fauna. -); avoiding escalation; fixing the end of the conflict.

Zelensky said that "there will be no Minsk-3 that Russia will violate immediately after the conclusion."

In Moscow, Zelensky's speech was regarded as Ukraine's refusal to negotiate. In particular, this was stated by the press secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov.

“We state the main thing: the position — both de facto and de jure — of the Ukrainian side, which has been repeatedly stated by President Zelensky, shows that Ukraine, both de facto and de jure, cannot and does not want to negotiate. Accordingly, the goals of the Russian Federation will be implemented through the continuation of a special military operation, ”Peskov said.

Lavrov's negotiations

There will be no joint photo of the G20 participants this year, because representatives of the Western countries did not want to be in the same picture with Sergey Lavrov, who led the Russian delegation in Indonesia. However, this did not prevent the head of the foreign policy department from holding talks with UN Secretary General António Guterres, as well as talking with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“There was a brief conversation with President Macron, who reaffirmed his intention to continue contacts with President Putin in order to find some agreements that would resolve the whole situation, as he put it,” Lavrov said after talking with the French leader.

Sergei Lavrov (Photo: Global Look Press)

In addition, Lavrov said that the Russian delegation took an active part in the preparation of the final declaration of the summit.

“The West added the phrase that “we, many delegations” condemned Russia. We recorded that alternative points of view were presented. We believe that this is quite enough not to delve deeply into this issue, this is not the business of the G20 at all,” Lavrov said.

On November 16, Dmitry Peskov announced that the Kremlin was satisfied with the final declaration of the G20 countries after the summit in Indonesia. “The difference was noted and fixed in approaches, in points of view on this topic to the declaration. As for the rest, of course, both our experts and the Foreign Ministry, our Sherpa [Svetlana] Lukash made a lot of efforts to ensure that such a balanced text was born,” he said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged at the end of the summit that there are countries among the G20 participants that do not want to condemn Russia's actions.

Russia's position regarding the final declaration of the summit was supported by China . The Financial Times claims that it was also possible to soften the wording about the situation in Ukraine thanks to the mediation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Otherwise, there were no particular disagreements on the final declaration. The parties, in particular, stated the need to fight global warming and a sharp change in exchange rates.

What other issues were discussed at the G20 summit

Most of the summit participants agreed on the need for debt relief for the world's poorest countries. According to REUTERS, the declaration on this issue does not contain the position of China, which Western countries have repeatedly criticized for their unwillingness to participate in the restructuring of the debts of developing countries. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he would not rush to sign new free trade agreements for the time being. According to him, "speed in this matter should not harm quality." Indonesian President Joko Widodo reminded that the CORONAVIRUS pandemic has not yet ended. In this regard, he called on the largest countries to replenish the fund for assistance to countries affected by covid. At the summit, several leaders had HEALTH problems at once. Argentine President Alberto Fernandez left Indonesia ahead of schedule due to exacerbated gastritis, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was diagnosed with coronavirus. On Monday, AP reported the hospitalization of Sergei Lavrov, but this information was immediately denied by the head of the foreign policy department himself.