MOSCOW, November 16. /TASS/. The G20 summit in Indonesia highlighted the split between the interests and intentions of the West and of the rest of the world, the Program Director of the Valdai discussion club, Timofey Bordachev, told TASS in an interview on Wednesday.
"The results of the summit showed a split between the interests and intentions of its participants: for the United States and its allies in Europe the G20 is a way of advancing their narrow, selfish and momentary interests, while for the other states it is still a way of discussing world problems. This is the main contradiction that we saw at the summit," he said.
Bordachev believes that it is too early to say, though, that the summit consolidated the world’s movement towards the establishment of a new order and multipolarity.
"This summit was keynoted by the struggle of the West for preserving the old order," Bordachev said.
Achievement of Russian diplomacy
The expert regards the final 50-point document agreed to at the summit as an achievement of Russian diplomacy. On the one hand it "strongly condemns the war in Ukraine," but also contains "other opinions about this situation."
"Had Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov refused to agree to this wording proposed by the West critical of Russia, he would have disrupted the adoption of this declaration," he explained. "Had Russia rejected such a compromise, then there would have been no declaration at all. This would be very unpleasant for the Indonesian hosts, who did a very good job under very strong pressure from the West over the Russian issue. In any case, it would be wrong to make them feel upset." The analyst believes that the communique can also be considered an achievement of Indonesian diplomacy.
The Russian Foreign Minister’s numerous meetings with international partners indicated once again that the West’s allegations about Russia’s isolation were nothing but propaganda, Bordachev believes. Lavrov's short conversations with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the G20, the political scientist says, indicate that even in modern conditions there is still some room for diplomacy. "For now, it is hard to say that the West is ready for some kind of compromise," he added.
Grain deal clause
Bordachev praised the communique's paragraph concerning the importance of the grain deal.
"This is a very useful clause," he stressed. "It gives Russia more opportunities for cooperation in food security with those countries which really need food, and not with European producers, who will be using grain to feed livestock. Russian grain will go to those African and Asian countries which need it in order to feed their population."
Whether the grain deal will be extended "depends on Russia’s position and the behavior of the authorities in Kiev."