G20: War in Europe did not cause global inflation, says Russian Sherpa

"Unless the G7 nations stop bringing attention to issues which have nothing to do with G20, it will be difficult to reach an agreement on the final Leaders Declaration at the end of the year"

Russia is hoping for closer interoperability with the digital payments systems of India because they are more convenient for the countries to expand payments in their local currencies instead of the dollar, said the country’s sherpa, Svetlana Lukash. In an interview with Arup Roychoudhury, Lukash says unless the G7 nations stop bringing attention to issues that have nothing to do with the G20, it will be difficult to reach an agreement on the final Leaders’ Declaration towards the end of the year. She also says the war has nothing to do with global food and energy prices, adding that India has been a balanced and fair G20 president. Edited excerpts:

What do you make of the G20 summit being held in India against the backdrop of the geopolitical climate?

India’s G20 presidency has been extraordinary. We support all priorities put forward by India, including advancement on sustainable development goals, digitalisation, and restoring world trade and growth. These are similar to Russia’s own priorities and proposals.

In the finance and foreign ministers’ meetings, there were disagreements on the language over the paragraphs criticising the war. As negotiations head towards the final Leaders’ Statement in September, how do you see the situation evolving?

The situation in Ukraine is not the same as before. There are a lot of parties in the battlefield. The major problem is our G7 colleagues. They do not accept the situation and make false statements, which leads to work getting stuck in the G20. Since the Bali declaration, the situation has significantly changed. We can no longer refer to what was agreed upon in Bali.

Since the G20 is a forum for the global economy, there have been discussions on the impact of the war.

We have discussed the impact on the global economic situation. And in this regard, the situation hasn’t changed. It is not the conflict that provoked high inflation in western countries and the rise in prices of food and energy. We notice that the peak in prices happened in the middle of 2021. Even the Food and Agriculture Organization says prices now are at the same levels as they were in the beginning of 2021. The conflict is not impacting food and energy prices. What is critical is the disruption in global value chains and global trade, which happened after the pandemic came, and was exacerbated by the macroeconomic and fiscal policies of the major economies. Now they are trying to put the blame on the conflict in Ukraine.

The world faces much broader challenges. We face climate change, and slow progress in sustainable development goals. We have high debt in many developing countries. Those are the main challenges the G20 should discuss.

What role do countries like India have as mediators?

I very much hope that India or China does not have any role in the war because they are not party to the conflict. They act as mediators and are good friends of Russia. We are grateful to India for having such profound cooperation with Russia and acting as a true and balanced president of the G20. We also hope to expand cooperation with India.

We expect President Vladimir Putin comes to the G20 summit. It is not yet decided. These opportunities are being regarded as serious.

What were the discussions you had in your bilateral with the Indian sherpa?

We have established good relations with Amitabh Kant (the Indian sherpa). We always have consultations with India on the margins of various G20 events. Our meeting was dedicated to discussing how we approach many critical issues at the Sherpa meet, and what can be the way forward. We discussed how G20 leaders can produce a communiqué instead of a chair statement.

We will communicate with all partners on the agenda of the G20 and on not putting the entire emphasis on geopolitics, which is not the mandate of the G20.

What would make Russia and China agree with other G20 nations? Do you want a complete removal of paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Bali declaration?

What will be in the communiqué (Delhi Declaration) will be decided closer to the Leaders’ Summit. Right now the idea is to focus on the main mandate. As long as our G7 colleagues keep bringing up issues that are not the mandate of the G20, we will not be able to do our jobs and won’t be able to provide communiqués instead of chair summaries.

Were there any discussions on India’s digital public infrastructure?

We have seen India’s excellence in terms of digital public infrastructure and a similar initiative is underway in Russia to make the lives of our people easier and more comfortable.

Is there a plan to bring in greater interoperability between the two digital payments systems?

Yes, I hope our digital payments systems are interoperable. Our trade grows. It is much more comfortable for India and Russia to use national currencies to expand payments. I hope conversations underway between our agencies will provide results soon.