G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting: Hell on Paradise Island

Written by: Trystanto

On July 9, the nations of the G20 held a foreign ministers’ meeting on the island of Bali. However, even though the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting are held every year ever since the G20 was formed, there is nothing ordinary about this edition. The meeting takes place in the backdrop of one of the most consequential international relations phenomena in the 21st century.

The meeting was doomed to unusuality from the very start. The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the organizing committee had to eschew the photo session. Furthermore, some reporters shouted “when will you stop the war” and “why don’t you stop the war” to the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, when he was welcomed by the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi (Widianto and Brunnstrom 2022).

Additionally, while the Indonesian government described the meetings as “frank and constructive”, the description of the meeting tells a different story; a story filled with condemnations and walkouts. To her credit, Minister Marsudi’s opening speech was a warm plea for a peaceful and civilized discussion, noting that “[i]t is our responsibility to end the war sooner rather than later and settle our differences at the negotiating table, not [on] the battlefield” (Aqil and Tanamal 2022). The following discussions were nothing of what she had hoped for. The Western Foreign Ministers traded barbs with the Russian Foreign Minister that the latter walked out.

Indeed, Indonesia must recognize that its G20 presidency will not be business as usual. There are too many events that are transforming the world stage. Therefore, as I have argued in a recent article, Indonesia must recognize that this year’s G20 deliberations will not strictly limit itself to economic issues, but also political and military issues (Trystanto 2022). The move to invite Ukraine is the right one as it guarantees the participation of Western leaders as well as providing an avenue for dialogue.

However, Indonesia is right to focus on one issue in particular: food security. As a result of the Russian sea blockade of Ukraine, the amount of wheat exports from Ukraine has plummeted. According to the Ukrainian Institute of Agricultural Economics, the amount of wheat exported from the ports of Odessa and Mykolaiv has dropped by 90% since the war began (Interfax 2022). To make matters worse, Ukraine is one of the world’s premiere exporters of wheat. Consequently, the survival of hundreds of millions of people in developing countries, Indonesia included, are under threat. Indonesia is right to bring this issue up as it is in its national interests to do so and Indonesia can position itself as the ‘defender’ of developing countries worldwide.

This scene can be taken as a rehearsal to the upcoming G20 leaders’ summit in November. If there are no further negative significant developments in the war, such as Russia’s possible use of chemical weapons in Ukraine, then we can pretty much expect the same thing: barb trading, condemnations, and walk outs. Consequently, it is for the better that Indonesia must learn from its experiences and improve.

Trystanto is the head of Research and Development Division at FPCI UGM. This article represents his own views and not necessarily those of FPCI UGM

References

Aqil, A.M.I. and Tanamal, Y. (2022). Bali meeting gives space for dialogue. [online] The Jakarta Post. Available at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2022/07/08/bali-meeting-gives-space-for-dialogue.html [Accessed 16 Jul. 2022].

Interfax (2022). Ukraine’s agricultural exports at $1.74 bln in March-April 2022 — Institute of Agrarian Economics. [online] interfax.com. Available at: https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/79424/ [Accessed 16 Jul. 2022].

Trystanto (2022). Mengundang Rusia dan Ukraina ke Pertemuan G20. [online] detiknews. Available at: https://news.detik.com/kolom/d-6041892/mengundang-rusia-dan-ukraina-ke-pertemuan-g20 [Accessed 16 Jul. 2022].

Widianto, S. and Brunnstrom, D. (2022). Russia’s Lavrov walks out of G20 as West denounces Ukraine war. Reuters. [online] 8 Jul. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/war-looms-large-over-g20-event-russia-meets-rivals-bali-2022-07-07/ [Accessed 16 Jul. 2022].