Virtual G20 summit: Putin rejects criticism of Ukraine war

2023-11-22T20:45:17.607Z

Highlights: Virtual G20 summit: Putin rejects criticism of Ukraine war. Acts of war are always a tragedy – says Vladimir Putin, of all people, at the virtual G20 Summit. There, for once, he showed himself in person, but he did not have to leave the country for it. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Putin to end the war, according to his own statements. The meeting was a good opportunity to make it clear that peace in Ukraine could easily be restored if Russia withdrew its troops.

Acts of war are always a tragedy – says Vladimir Putin, of all people, at the virtual G20 summit. There, for once, he showed himself in person, but he did not have to leave the country for it.

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Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin – according to the Kremlin, the photo was taken during the G20 video link

Photograph:

Mikhail Klimentyev / AP

Home office in world politics: At a virtual G20 meeting, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin once again joined in person and had to take heavy criticism from the other participants for the Ukraine war.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Putin to end the war, according to his own statements. The meeting was a good opportunity to make it clear that peace in Ukraine could easily be restored if Russia withdrew its troops. "And that's what we did, and so did others. And in that respect, it was also interesting, because he had to listen," Scholz said at a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Putin rejected the accusations about the Kremlin. In their speeches, some G20 participants were shocked by the Russian aggression in Ukraine. "Yes, of course, acts of war are always a tragedy." We have to think about how to end this tragedy, he said.

Time and again, the Kremlin has portrayed Ukraine as a country supposedly run by "neo-Nazis" and portrayed the change of power that followed pro-European protests in Kiev in 2014 as the trigger for the war. Russia has never rejected peace talks with Ukraine," Putin also claimed. Ukraine, on the other hand, refuses to negotiate.

For Kiev, a withdrawal of Russian troops is a condition for lasting peace. This, in turn, Moscow rejects.

Few official trips by Putin since the start of the war

It was the Kremlin chief's first participation in a G20 meeting since the war began in February 2022. At the previous summits in India and Indonesia, he had been represented by his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Putin has made few official trips abroad since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him.

At the virtual meeting now convened by India, Putin diverted attention to the Gaza war and thus apparently from his own war. He asked if his colleagues were not shocked by the murder of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. According to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the members of the G20 welcomed the humanitarian pause planned from this Thursday, which is to last a maximum of ten days and is linked to a hostage deal.

hba/dpa/AFP

Virtual G20 summit: Putin rejects criticism of Ukraine war

Few official trips by Putin since the start of the war

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