Ambassador to Brazil Melnyk on results of G20 summit: Counting on support from Western partners did not work out - no one fought for us
Brazil, which holds the presidency of the Group of Twenty, tried to "take off the table" the Ukrainian agenda during the summit, and the Ukrainian side's reliance on the support of Western partners did not materialize.
This was stated by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Brazil Andrii Melnyk, Censor.NET reports citing Interfax-Ukraine.
"As you understand, our strength here is unequal not only in relation to Brazil but also to other countries of the Global South. Therefore, we frankly hoped that our friends not only from the G7, but also from other Western countries... would help convince President Lula to change this approach. But frankly speaking (and this was confirmed by my conversations in Rio de Janeiro the other day)... unfortunately, no one really fought for us," Melnyk said, commenting on the results of the G20 summit.
Speaking about the final declaration of the summit, which does not condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Melnyk emphasized that Western delegations did not try to change this.
"This is a big blow for us. No exaggeration. Those who had reservations there, some of our friends, some, let's say, friends from the G7, simply "swallowed" what was put on the table," the ambassador said.
The official noted a "regression and rollback" in the current joint statement of the summit, a trend that he said is very disturbing.
"It's about the competition of these new powers, which (I mean the Global South, in particular Brazil, which sees itself as one of the leaders of this movement) have posed a real challenge to the Western world... Our American friends and European friends, to be not quite diplomatic, are lagging behind. And it makes my heart ache," Melnyk said.
He noted that Ukraine also needs to change its approaches and strategy.
"We need to sit down and soberly reassess our capabilities: what we can and cannot do, and show our teeth. And our diplomacy now is that we run after everyone, you know, and ask: give us this, do that... I hope that this summit in Rio will not be just a reason to complain. It's so bad that this is the way it is. This is the reality. It is very cruel. And we must recognize that it is. And then we need to calmly, rationally, determine an action plan," Melnyk summarized.
