“Global South no longer willing to be lectured…”: Russia’s Lavrov on consensus over New Delhi Declaration

New Delhi [India]: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the New Delhi Declaration at the G20 Summit is about the awakening of the Global South which is “no longer willing” to be lectured about Russia complying with “Zelenskyy formula”.

Addressing a press conference after the conclusion of the G20 Summit here, Lavrov said that the declaration is about the consolidation of the Global South that is willing to work to achieve its goals.

“When they agreed to that, perhaps it was the voice of their conscience. Speaking frankly, we didn’t expect that. We were 100 per cent ready to defend our honest wording of the text, and it was truly honest and fair, he said.

He further said that the main content of the declaration is all about the awakening of the Global South and one should not isolate the paragraph on Russia-Ukraine war.

“Let me underline that we cannot isolate that paragraph (on Ukraine and Russia) from the rest of the work on the declaration. The main content of the declaration this year is all about the awakening of the Global South and the consolidation of the Global South that is truly willing for the G20 to work for its main goals,” Lavrov said.

The Russian Foreign Minister added that the Global South is “not willing” to enforce Russia to comply with the “Zelenskyy formula” to end the conflict.

“The Global South is no longer willing to be lectured. They don’t want to hear anything about Russia enforcing Russia to comply with the Zelenskyy formula. I don’t want to talk about it, this formula is unrealistic. This approach is simple, it is disrespectful for the developing nations…sane people cannot say such things. I think this is nothing but a new expression of neo-colonialism,” he further added.

Russian Foreign Minister described the New Delhi G20 Summit as “a milestone” and said the active role of the Indian presidency “has genuinely consolidated” the G20 countries from the Global South for the first time in history.

“It is a long way to go but this Summit has been a milestone… I would also like to mention the active role of the Indian presidency that has genuinely consolidated the G20 countries from the Global South for the first time in history. Our BRICS partners – Brazil, India, China, South Africa have been particularly active and thanks to these consolidated positions taken by the Global South countries to uphold and protect their legitimate interests,” he said.

“I think that a healthy solution has been found in the declaration regarding the need to strive for a clear and equitable balance of interest. It is one of the decent purposes and we are already on track. In our turn, we will continue strengthening these positive trends including during Brazil’s presidency next year and in 2025 during South Africa’s presidency,” he added.

Lavrov also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposal to hold a virtual G20 session in November towards the end of India’s G20 presidency to review the proposals made at the New Delhi Summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day announced the conclusion of the G20 Summit and proposed to hold a virtual G20 session in November to review the suggestions and proposals made at the premier forum for international economic cooperation.

Before declaring that the summit had ended, PM Modi handed over the ceremonial gavel of the Group of 20 presidency to Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.”

The G20 declaration was adopted on Saturday, the first day of the Summit.