G20 leaders adopt joint declaration, decry Ukraine war without naming Russia

• PM Modi says received consensus on back of hard work.
• G20 group remains divided on Russia-Ukraine war, issues.
• Consensus on reforms for better multilateral development banks

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday announced that the G20 had achieved unanimous agreement on a leaders' declaration and officially endorsed its adoption on the opening day of the annual summit.

"On the back of the hard work of all the teams, we have received consensus on the G20 Leaders Summit Declaration," Modi told the bloc leaders in New Delhi, before clapping the table for a few seconds in celebration.

"I announce the adoption of this declaration," Modi said, flanked by India Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The announcement came after delegates from the world's most powerful countries reached a compromise on language to describe the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported earlier.

The group was deeply divided over the war in Ukraine, with Western nations pushing for strong condemnation of Russia in the Leaders' Declaration to be issued at the end of the summit, while others demanded a focus on broader economic issues.

There were no immediate details on the language that was agreed to describe the war.

Decries 'use of force' in Ukraine for 'territorial' gain

G20 leaders decried the use of force in Ukraine for territorial gain in a summit statement on Saturday, without naming Russia.

Referencing the "war in Ukraine", the document said that "all states" should "refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state".

There was no explicit reference to Russia, unlike in a G20 statement in Bali last year that cited a UN resolution condemning "in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine".

Nonetheless, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan welcomed the phrasing. "From our perspective, it does a very good job," he told reporters.

It reinforced the principles that states could not use force for territorial gain, that using nuclear weapons was "inadmissible", and that "a just peace must be based on the principles of the UN Charter, including the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity", he said.

"Attacks on civilian infrastructure, including grid infrastructure, must halt," Sullivan added.

G20 summit host India has walked a diplomatic tightrope over the Ukraine war.

It has balanced its traditional alliance with Moscow — the provider of most of its arms imports, and now a source of cut-price oil — with its membership in the Quad grouping alongside the United States, Japan and Australia.

More to follow...