The Meeting of the G20 Foreign Ministers. An Expert Discussion

The activities of the G20 this year have been seriously affected by the consequences of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. In March 2022, the US President issued a call for Russia’s exclusion from the G20. Ideas were discussed about the Western states reducing the level of their representation at the summit, and the refusal of their leaders to participate in the meeting if the President of Russia accepts an invitation. However, the EU leadership has already declared that such a boycott is unproductive. According to Konstantin Kosachev, vice speaker of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, such a boycott could be supported by “a quarter to a third” of the G20 countries, that is, a minority, which meant the end of the “illusion of a global consensus against Russia.” In late June, it became clear that Moscow had previously informed Indonesia of the intention of the President of the Russian Federation to take part in the G20 summit. This context, as well as the global socio-economic consequences of Western sanctions against Russia, will undoubtedly have a serious impact on the topics of discussion at the summit, the initial preparations for which began under the motto “Recover together, recover stronger.“ However, the three priority themes originally announced by the Indonesian Presidency for this year also remain in focus – the global health architecture, sustainable energy transition and digital transformation. Among other things, these issues were discussed during the meetings Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had with colleagues from China, Mexico and other G20 countries on the sidelines of the G20 ministerial meeting in Indonesia. What are the results of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting? What are the forecasts for the G20 summit? What is Russia’s position on the main topics of the forthcoming summit? The participants of the discussion will try to find answers to these and other questions.