The G20 and the United Nations agree on reforming Gaza, but disagree on the war in Ukraine

Rio de Janeiro, February 22 (EFE).- The G20 foreign ministers built a broad consensus on what they consider necessary to resolve the conflict in Gaza and on the urgent need for reforms in multilateral organizations, but not on the war in Ukraine, after concluding the meeting. The meeting is on Thursday in Rio de Janeiro.

When making a final assessment of the meeting called by Brazil, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said: “There was a real consensus to support the two-state solution (Israel and Palestine) as the only possible solution to the conflict.” .

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell also pointed to the broad consensus at the G20 meeting on the two-state solution, which said that Israel's security depends on the existence of a Palestinian state.

The head of European diplomacy said: “If I could summarize the matter in one sentence, I would say that everyone (at the meeting), and I did not hear anyone opposing, strongly defended the two-state solution.”

The Brazilian Foreign Minister also said that a large number of countries have expressed concern about the current conflict in Palestine and the risk of it spreading to neighboring countries.

He added that a large number of countries also demanded the immediate release of the hostages still being held by Hamas.

Vieira stressed that there was also broad consensus on the need to reform multilateral organizations among the 45 delegations attending the Rio meeting – among G20 members, guests and international organizations – of which 32 were headed by ministers.

“Everyone agreed that key multilateral organizations, including the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, needed reform to adapt to today's world,” he said.

He added that the members of the G20 stressed the need for the United Nations to return to its essence as an organization to ensure peace and security, because it was unable to do so in the current conflicts.

“Everyone has pointed out the need to give momentum to discussions on reforming the organization, especially the Security Council, with the inclusion of new permanent and non-permanent members, especially from Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa,” he said.

Regarding the changes that the group wants to promote in multilateral banks, Vieira indicated that there is great acceptance of the idea of ​​facilitating the poorest countries’ access to finance and increasing their representation in the developing world.

Although the G20 also discussed the conflict in Ukraine, the Brazilian Foreign Minister was brief when mentioning it, saying only that “several countries” reiterated their condemnation of that war as it has been occurring since 2022.

The lack of rapprochement is due to the fact that Russia and some of its allies are part of the G20.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was present at the Rio meeting, who, according to Borrell, did not give any indication that his country intended to stop the attack, and he evaded every time the matter was addressed, and did not provide any clarifications about the matter. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies.

“Some ministers mentioned Navalny, but on the other side it's just silence, silence, silence,” he said.

In a press conference held exclusively with Russian journalists, Lavrov said that at the present time “there are no serious proposals from the Americans” regarding the situation in Ukraine, according to TASS.

The Russian Foreign Minister indicated that his country is still ready to hold talks “on strategic stability,” but noted that such a dialogue “must be sincere, and not the same old thing that the United States is accustomed to.”

The foreign ministers' meeting that concluded on Thursday was the first since Brazil assumed the presidency of the G20 last December, which will continue until November when the summit of the group's heads of state and government will be held in Rio de Janeiro. . Evie

CM Matt/MP/JAD

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