Host Indonesia urged the G20 to help end the war in Ukraine at the meeting, which put some of the staunchest critics of Russia’s invasion in the same room as Moscow’s top diplomat. “Aggressors”, “invaders”, “occupiers” – we heard a lot of things today,” Lavrov told reporters. He said the West’s discussion “devolved almost immediately, as soon as they took the floor, into frenzied criticism of the Russian Federation in relation to the situation in Ukraine.” “During the discussion, the Western partners avoided following the mandate of the G20, to deal with issues of the global economy,” Lavrov said. Russia says its “special military operation” is intended to degrade the Ukrainian military, root out people it calls dangerous nationalists and prevent the United States from using Ukraine to threaten Russia. Ukraine and its Western backers say Russia is engaged in an imperial-style land grab. They say Russia has no justification for war. Russia says the West’s attempt to isolate Moscow with the toughest sanctions in modern times amounts to a declaration of economic war and that Russia will henceforth turn to China, India and other non-Western powers. Lavrov said that if the West wanted Ukraine to defeat Russia, then there was nothing to discuss with the West, which he said was preventing Kyiv from pursuing a peace deal. Cries of “When will you stop the war” and “Why don’t you stop the war” rang out as Lavrov shook hands with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi at the start of the meeting. Russian state television reported that an attempt to boycott Russia at the G20 failed spectacularly and offended Indonesia. Lavrov added that Russia is ready to negotiate with Ukraine and Turkey on grain, but it is unclear when such talks might take place. (Reporting by Reuters Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Angus MacSwan) ——-

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