MOSCOW, November 26. /TASS/. The Group of Twenty (G20) requires reform and must revert to its original format to improve its effectiveness, Russian G20 Sherpa Svetlana Lukash stated during a press conference.
"Everyone recognizes the need to reform the G20," she noted. "Practically all countries agree that, indeed, the G20 needs to be brought back to its original form, made more effective and impactful, where decisions are actually made, rather than just dozens of pages of declarations written in jargon with calls that participants understand but leave others feeling sorry for them."
The Russian representative reminded that the G20 was created as a "purely economic format aimed at preventing and resolving global crises in the economy and financial sphere," which, however, "through the efforts of Western countries, has turned into a parallel UN-like platform for discussing geopolitical issues." This, she said, should not be the case.
"Politicization and addressing unrelated issues hinder the effective work of the G20," Lukash said. "It must be acknowledged that over the past nearly 20 years, the format has become bureaucratized, burdened with unrelated tasks and various working bodies. Today, the G20 deals with far more than just the financial agenda and even social development, but also completely unrelated issues from culture to space cooperation, without the possibility of reaching effective decisions."
The sherpa pointed out that formats within the G20 continue to operate "that do not actually bring much added value," and the role of international organizations preparing reports on various issues without direct mandates from G20 leaders has grown excessively. "The number of international organizations participating in the format is now completely unmanageable, and the forum increasingly resembles a heavy beast trying to move toward its goal but struggling greatly," she remarked.
In this regard, Lukash expressed hope that the G20’s work will soon "return to a more appropriate course, and the same Western countries will not seek a more effective way to resolve issues, settle disputes, find common approaches, and address global challenges other than through the Group of Twenty.".