No G20 Joint Statement After China Objects To Use Of "War" Over Ukraine

China wanted to change the language of the statement from November, officials told AFP, with one saying on condition of anonymity that Beijing wanted to remove the word "war".

G20 finance ministers failed Saturday to agree a joint statement on the global economy at talks in India, after China sought to water down references to the Ukraine war.

Instead current G20 president India issued a "chair's summary" which said "most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine" and that there were "different assessments of the situation and sanctions" at the two-day meeting in Bengaluru.

A footnote said two paragraphs in the summary about the war, which it said were adapted from the G20 Bali Leaders' Declaration in November, "were agreed to by all member countries except Russia and China".

Spain's representative Nadia Calvino had said earlier that because of "less constructive" approaches by some unspecified countries at the talks among the world's top 20 economies, agreeing on a statement was "difficult".