![Western Ministers Over Russia Ukraine War](https://informed24.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Russia-Ukraine-War.jpg)
Table of Contents
At G20 Meeting, Western ministers condemn Russia Ukraine war
Western Foreign ministers from the G20 group of nations meeting in Brazil on Wednesday attacked Russia for its invasion of Ukraine as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov listened, diplomats said. “Russia must be made to pay for its aggression,” British Foreign Minister David Cameron told the closed session, according to his office.
The top diplomats from the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, France and Norway made similar remarks on the first day of a two-day meeting. Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told reporters that Lavrov calmly replied to Cameron’s remarks with “a set of alternative facts” about events in Ukraine. Lavrov did not speak to reporters. Russia’s justification of its “special military operation” in Ukraine, which began two years ago, initially was to “de-Nazify” Ukraine. More recently, Moscow has emphasized that it needs to defend against Western aggression.
The meeting was set to prepare the agenda for a G20 summit in November. At a summit in September, G20 leaders adopted a declaration that avoided condemning Russia for the war in Ukraine but called on all states not to use force to grab territory. Cameron also noted the death of dissident Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison last week.
Eide said the G20 session in Rio focused mainly on conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. “We have to support Ukraine until it emerges as a free and independent sovereign country without another army on its soil,” the Norwegian minister said he told the meeting.
Eide said the ministers who spoke at the meeting agreed with the need for a two-state solution in the Middle East but there was no consensus on how to achieve it.
Brazil, this year’s president of the G20, opened the foreign ministers’ meeting by blaming the United Nations and other multinational bodies for failing to stop conflicts that are killing innocent people.
Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira called for “profound reform” of global governance as Brazil’s top priority this year.
“Multilateral institutions are not adequately equipped to deal with current challenges, as demonstrated by the Security Council’s unacceptable paralysis in relation to ongoing conflicts,” Vieira said at the meeting.
“This state of inaction results in the loss of innocent lives,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva in Brasilia on his way to the Rio meeting and expressed U.S. support for Brazil’s agenda to make global governance more effective.
The top U.S. diplomat discussed Israel’s war in Gaza with Lula amid a diplomatic spat after the Brazilian leader likened Israel’s war to the Nazi genocide during World War Two, a U.S. spokesperson told reporters.
Lula’s accusations last week of atrocities by Israel in Gaza triggered a diplomatic crisis with an Israeli reprimand and Brazil recalling its ambassador.
Reporting by Anthony Boadle and Lisandra Paraguassu; Additional reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Brad Haynes, Alistair Bell, Chizu Nomiyama, Steven Grattan, Daniel Wallis and Cynthia Osterman – Reuters
Note – The above information is from Reuters
Also Read:
UK’s Trident Nuclear-Deterrent Missile System Misfires During Test, Is This System A Failure?
U.S president has spent months on wanting ‘pause’ in a fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. But with Israel preparing for a ground offensive in Rafah, his rhetoric is shifting to emphasize the need for a “temporary ceasefire”.
It sounds like a slight rhetorical difference, but it is one that inches Biden closer to many around the world and to critics within his own Democratic Party who want a permanent ceasefire to a war in which nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed. Click here to read more.
![](https://informed24.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Trident-nuclear-missile.jpg)
Biden Says ‘Ceasefire’ More Often, As Rafah Braces For Israeli Ground Assault
Missile system misfires during test last month and it fell in the ocean off the Florida coast near a submarine that launched, the sun newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed that an “anomaly” had occurred during the test but said Britain’s “nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure and effective”. With Defence Secretary Grant Shapps on board the HMS Vanguard to witness the test, The Sun said, the first-stage boosters on the missile – equipped with dummy warheads – failed to ignite. Click here to read more.
![](https://informed24.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Ground-Assault-1.jpg)