The world must ‘move on’ from Ukraine

Amitabh Kant, India’s negotiator at the G20 summit, said on Wednesday the world was too preoccupied with Russia’s war in Ukraine and should “move on” to deal with issues such as global poverty.

“Europe cannot immobilize growth, poverty, global debt, all development problems across the world – especially when the south is suffering, especially when 75 countries are suffering from global debt, especially when a third of the world is in recession, especially when 200 million people have fallen below the poverty line,” Kant said.

“Can this one war paralyze the whole world? He asked.

“Nutrition has been impacted, health outcomes have been impacted, learning outcomes have been impacted, people are stunted and emaciated and we are only concerned about a war between Russia and Russia. “Ukraine. The world must move forward and Europe must find a solution to its challenges,” he said.

India currently holds the rotating G20 presidency and seems frustrated that the war in Ukraine is taking all the attention during its tenure. India has not condemned the war, because it is buying a a lot of oil And military equipment of Russia and wishes to maintain good relations both with Moscow and with the West.

The summit of G20 diplomats organized in New Delhi at the beginning of March was dominated speaking of Ukraine but finished in disarray without reaching a consensus on the war or producing the traditional joint communiqué, in part because Russia and China blocked efforts to draft a statement that would condemn Russia for the war.

G20 leaders such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have urged India is using its presidency to facilitate a “negotiated process of cessation of hostilities for a just peace”, but so far India has been reluctant to take any action that could be construed as criticism by Moscow.

On the contrary, India has tent to convince other G20 members to stop calling the conflict a ‘war’, preferring instead terms like ‘crisis’ or ‘challenge’. None of the other members seem to have been convinced by these efforts.

Ukraine Ukrinform The media service seemed a bit sullen when reporting Kant’s call to “move on” after the Russian invasion, pointing out that Ukraine “produces enough food to feed 400 million people every year”, but that “millions of people have been left without Ukrainian grain” because Russia is blocking its ports.