The US on Monday (local time) criticized Russia and China for not offering “firm condemnation” of the Ukraine conflict at the G20 ministerial meeting of Finance Ministers.
At a US Department of State press briefing, spokesperson Ned Price said, “When it comes to the Peoples’ Republic China (PRC), that’s a question for the PRC – a country that purports to believe in the principle of sovereignty, that purports to believe in the principle of territorial integrity and independence. Why it is not living up to those principles in this context, that’s a question only the PRC can answer.” Price was answering questions on the G20 ministerial meeting of Finance Ministers in India that ended without a consensus on the war in Ukraine. “I don’t want to get too far ahead of where we are. But to your question, what I saw from the foreign – from the finance ministers meeting over the weekend was a G20 that was on the same page, with two notable exceptions: only with the exception of Russia and the PRC. Other countries, as you can see from the statement that emanated from the finance ministers meeting, roundly condemned Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. It was only Russia and China that equivocated or that were not in a position to offer that firm condemnation,” said Price. Speaking on Russia, he said that it is no surprise that they are not prepared to condemn their own government’s actions in Ukraine. He also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “this is not an era of war” statement. “You’ve heard very firmly from Prime Minister Modi the belief on the part of the Indian Government that this is not an era of war. There are countries around the world, notably Russia, that are challenging the rules-based order.”
