This year’s G20 Summit, held in Bali on November 15-16, successfully produced a joint declaration. This was somewhat surprising, yet welcome, considering that the high-level conference was held amid the unstable geopolitical situation and rising tension between major powers.

To what degree, though, can Indonesian diplomacy lay claim to having delivered the success? What about the strong pressures from the West regarding the war in Ukraine? And apart from the pride expressed by Indonesian people, how can the G20 Bali leaders’ declaration benefit the global community?

How Russia-Ukraine conflict dominated the G20

Since Russia launched its attack against Ukraine in February 2022, the discussions in G20 meetings had changed.

Major powers, especially the United States, had insisted on an agenda to discuss the war during the G20 summit, calling on all members to exclude Russia from G20 membership and invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to attend.

The G7 countries even threatened to walk out of events if Russian President Vladimir Putin attended. In almost all of the G20 ministerial-level meetings, or so-called working group, the G7 continued to criticise and condemn Putin for the war. As the consequences, several meetings were unable to produce a communique (agreement document).

Hosting the G20 summit, Indonesia had set three priority issues to be discussed, consisting of global health governance, digital transformation, and energy transition. Those are relevant to the current global COVID-19 recovery efforts.

However, the pressures, from both the West and those member countries that refused sanctions against Russia, had put Indonesia in a tricky position. Indonesia had taken various measures as extra efforts to respond to the pressures and ensure that the G20 Summit could run peacefully and properly.

One of the most highlighted efforts was the initiative of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to visit Russia and Ukraine and meet both Putin and Zelenskyy. Jokowi directly invited them to the G20 summit.

One of the most highlighted efforts was the initiative of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to visit Russia and Ukraine and meet both Putin and Zelenskyy. Jokowi directly invited them to the G20 summit.

Read full story https://theconversation.com/the-2022-bali-g20-declaration-did-success-really-stem-from-indonesias-diplomacy-195111