G-20 nations to condemn Russia’s Ukraine invasion as Lavrov watches on

G-20 nations on Tuesday will issue a joint statement condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying “today’s era must not be of war.”

Leaders of the world’s largest economies are gathered in Indonesia this week. Tensions over Russia’s onslaught in Ukraine has raised questions about whether they would be able to unite on what is one of the most pressing issues globally, with Russia being a member of the G-20 grouping. Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, is attending the summit.

“Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy — constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity, and elevating financial stability risks,” the joint statement will say, according to a draft document seen by CNBC.

The joint statement also said “the peaceful resolution of conflicts, efforts to address crises, as well as diplomacy and dialogue, are vital. Today’s era must not be of war.”

The communique has been agreed upon by the highest public servants of all the G-20 nations and is expected to be approved by the heads of state later on Tuesday. At the time of writing, it was unclear whether China was among the nations condemning Russia’s war in Ukraine.

An official, who is following the high-level discussions in Indonesia and preferred to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the talks, told CNBC that “the ambiguity is there for a reason” — refraining to confirm if Beijing was among the “most members” group condemning the Kremlin.

The same official added that the G-20 “narrative is progressing because we see the consequences of the war.” “A few months ago, it would have not been possible to reach such agreement,” the source said.

In recognition of the differences of opinion, the joint statement also said: “There were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions.”

Russia has dubbed its invasion of Ukraine as a “special operation” aimed at “demilitarizing” its neighbor. Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov said…