EU’s priority at G-20 summit will be Ukraine: EU official

EU official confirms that Ukraine will be their top priority at G-20 Summit in New Delhi. Confident of forming consensus on Global South, EU pushing for African Union membership.

Ukraine will be the topmost item on the agenda of the European Union at the G-20 Summit, a senior EU official said on Wednesday.

Clearing the Western expectation about the upcoming summit that will be held here during the weekend, the official expressed confidence about forming consensus about the Global South and placed it on record that the EU “wished” to have the participation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the G-20 summit in New Delhi.  

“Our first priority will be Ukraine. We wished to have participation of President Zelenskyy. But we respect the decision of the host,” said the official during a hybrid briefing for the media from across the world.

He strongly defended Ukraine’s sovereignty and called for an end to the Russian military campaign. The remark from the important functionary gave an impression of the seriousness with which the Western bloc is viewing the Ukraine conflict in the context of the G-20. 

The Delhi summit is expected to witness tough bargaining over the issue which has lingered with devastating global effects since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the so-called “special military campaign” on February 24, 2022.

Last week, the Russian Ambassador in Delhi, Denis Alipov, established the Russian position regarding the prominence of Ukraine at the G-20, saying, “If there is no consensus on something then the items without consensus should be removed taking into account that political issues have never been discussed in G20.”

Mr. Alipov complained that a group of countries had hijacked the G-20 to highlight the cause of Ukraine. But the EU official on Wednesday said the G-20 was the right platform for discussing the Ukraine crisis, arguing that those who did not recognise the political nature of the G-20 were harbouring an “illusion”.