MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/. The Kremlin has positively assessed the results of the G20 summit, noting that the absence of US President Joe Biden had no impact on its decisions, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
"Indeed, positions on the Ukrainian issue (among summit participants - TASS) differ, various countries used different phrasing and, in response to those, among other things, [Russian] President [Vladimir Putin] once again provided his detailed assessment of the situation," the Kremlin official said. "The president was heard, the president heard others out. This is important. This is a rather significant outcome in itself," Peskov added.
In his opinion, "India’s concluding chairmanship [of the G20] has yet again demonstrated the chairman’s extremely productive work and good results from the point of view that these kinds of events are being held in a very timely fashion." Peskov replied in the negative to a question as to whether Biden’s absence impacted the summit’s atmosphere and final decisions.
The G20 extraordinary summit was held on November 22 in a videoconference format. Speaking there, Putin thanked India for its good work during its chairmanship. According to the Russian leader, a lot was done in order to focus the activity of G20 countries on seeking solutions for the most pressing issues of the international socio-economic agenda which was the initial reason for the very existence of the group. The Russian president asserted that precisely this team-first approach is now as important as ever.
The Russian head of state highlighted remarks by other participants that they are stunned by "Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine." Putin agreed that combat is always a tragedy and it is necessary to think about how to stop it. That said, he stressed that Russia had never rejected peace talks with Ukraine. The Russian president also agreed that war and people’s deaths are always shocking but asked several rhetorical questions as to whether the situation unfolding in Gaza can be other than shocking.