Feb 21, 2025 Story by: Editor
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy expressed skepticism about Russia’s willingness to seek peace in Ukraine after listening to a speech by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a tense Group of 20 meeting in South Africa on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters after Lavrov addressed senior diplomats in a closed-door session at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Johannesburg, Lammy voiced his concerns.
“I have to say when I listened to what the Russians and what Lavrov have just said in the chamber this afternoon, I didn’t see an appetite to really get to that peace,” Lammy stated.
He also noted that Lavrov left his seat when it was Lammy’s turn to speak. No details of Lavrov’s speech were made public.
The two-day G20 gathering, held on Thursday and Friday, follows recent bilateral talks between the United States and Russia about ending the war in Ukraine. These talks excluded Washington’s European allies and Ukraine.
Adding to the geopolitical tensions, U.S. President Donald Trump has drawn criticism for his remarks about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and for falsely blaming Ukraine for Russia’s full-scale invasion. The war is set to mark its third anniversary next week.
“At the moment, we’ve had effective talks,” Lammy said. “We’ve not got anywhere near a negotiated settlement.”
In his own speech, released by the U.K. Foreign Office, Lammy condemned Russia’s actions, describing them as “Tsarist imperialism.”
“You know, mature countries learn from their colonial failures and their wars, and Europeans have had much to learn over the generations and the centuries,” Lammy stated, according to the Foreign Office transcript. “But I’m afraid to say that Russia has learned nothing.”
“I was hoping to hear some sympathy for the innocent victims of the aggression. I was hoping to hear some readiness to seek a durable peace. What I heard was the logic of imperialism dressed up as realpolitik, and I say to you all, we should not be surprised, but neither should we be fooled.”
Lammy also dismissed Lavrov’s remarks, referring to them as “the Russian gentleman’s tired fabrications.”
Tensions at the meeting were evident when a planned photo session for the foreign ministers was abruptly canceled without explanation.
The United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the European Union have reaffirmed their support for Ukraine and were expected to reiterate this stance during the G20 discussions.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who recently engaged in talks with Lavrov in Saudi Arabia, was notably absent from the G20 meeting. Rubio opted to boycott due to U.S. tensions with South Africa, which the Trump administration has characterized as anti-American. The U.S. was instead represented by Dana Brown, its acting ambassador to South Africa.
The G20 comprises 19 major global economies, the European Union, and the African Union. Among the attendees were EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who reiterated France’s condemnation of Russia in an op-ed published in multiple media outlets.
While no details of Lavrov’s speech were released, the Russian Foreign Ministry did share information about a bilateral meeting between Lavrov and China’s Wang. Following their discussions, Lavrov stated that Russia’s relations with China “have become and remain an increasingly significant factor in stabilizing the international situation and preventing it from sliding into total confrontation,” according to a ministry statement.
The G20, intended to foster cooperation between developed and developing nations, often struggles to reach consensus due to differing interests among the U.S., Europe, Russia, and China. The divisions have deepened since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
As the holder of the G20’s rotating presidency this year, South Africa used the occasion to call for constructive dialogue. In his opening remarks, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa emphasized the importance of collaboration amid ongoing geopolitical conflicts, climate change, pandemics, and economic challenges.
“There is a lack of consensus among major powers, including in the G20, on how to respond to these issues,” Ramaphosa noted.
Rubio’s boycott and his decision to skip the main G20 summit in South Africa this November could further weaken the effectiveness of the group.
Additionally, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that he would not attend an upcoming G20 finance ministers meeting in South Africa, citing commitments in Washington. Many view his absence as another sign of the Trump administration’s prioritization of its “America First” policy over international cooperation. Source: AP News
