President Zelensky calls out G19 leaders at G20 summit

C: https://www.timesofisrael.com/

Volodymyr Zelensky urged G19 world leaders to put an end to the Russian invasion. This seems a direct verbal attack on Moscow during the ongoing G20 summit. Mr. Zelensky said this in a video speech during the G20 summit. The world leaders gathered in Bali, Indonesia, and saw the speech live.

Russia is a very strong member of the G20 group. But this time, Mr. Putin did not attend the summit. Instead, he sent his Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. This sent the real picture of Russia during the Ukraine war. Ukraine requested to extend the grain export deal. The deal is going to expire soon.

Zelensky clearly said that this is the perfect time to stop the war. He said that this is a destructive war and should stop now. Also, he said in his speech that we should ensure nuclear and food safety. He urged to end hostilities and put a cap on escalation. With this, he continued to address the summit as G19 instead of G20. This came because Russia’s Putin was not there.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative was the main point of Zelensky’s speech. The deal happened between Russia and the United Nations. The deal helps to clear blocked food exports at Ukrainian ports. The United Nations claims that this deal prevented a global food crisis. The deal led to the shipment of 10 million tonnes of food exports.

Mr. Zelensky also accused Russia of destroying Ukraine’s energy. He said that Putin is using the winter as a weapon. He said that this weapon is dangerous as it can impact many people all over Ukraine. This comes amid the approaching winter in Ukraine with no end in sight for the war.

Russia and its foreign minister reacted accordingly to the remarks. Russia said that Ukraine refused negotiations with them. France and China also came forward on the issue. UK’s Prime minister Rishi Sunak confronted Sergei Lavrov. This shows that Russia is not in a good position with world leaders.

Credits: BBC

Ishita Paul