European powers have made a plea at the G20 in South Africa to countries in the global south that they show unambivalent support for the international rules-based order, including the sovereignty of Ukraine.
Writing in the Guardian, the French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said the real line of geopolitical division was not between north and south but between those who supported the international rules-based order and those who did not.
Barrot wrote: “The discussion we should be having, at G20 meetings and everywhere else, is not the clash between north and south, but between those who support the law and those who support power by force.”
Some western governments have faced accusations of double standards over their full-throated support for Ukraine and lower-key criticism of Israeli breaches of humanitarian law in Gaza.
Barrot rejects the charge, writing: “France does not use doublespeak. In France, our moral compass is not guided by north or south, but by justice. We do not avert our eyes from any crisis or violation of international law. A country under attack is a country under attack, and an aggressor country is an aggressor country – this distinction does not change based on whether the country is in the north or the south.
“That is why France at once condemns violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza and the West Bank, the 7 October terrorist attacks against Israel, the war of aggression led by Russia against Ukraine, and the atrocities perpetrated by the Sudanese armed forces and the RSF in Sudan. That is why it is fully committed to maintaining the ceasefire in Lebanon, after working towards its adoption alongside the United States.”
Thursday’s meeting of foreign ministers from the G20 – an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union, and the African Union – will not be attended by the Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, in a sign of the Trump’s administration’s antipathy towards multilateral institutions. Instead the US is sending a relatively junior diplomat.
Rubio said he was not attending due to what he described as the G20’s anti-American agenda. He told the press: “My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism. I think the whole topic of the G20 gathering is one that I don’t think we should be focused on, talking about global inclusion, equity, and these sorts of things.”
The US has also declined to send Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, to a meeting of G20 finance ministers next week. Bessent said on X that he would not participate in the event because of obligations in Washington.
Barrot said the task of the G20 was to strengthen international law, including through a reform of global governance.
He said: “Every second we waste on the path to multilateralism reform fuels claims its institutions are illegitimate. France would like to see crucial projects for the future of peace and global governance to be completed between now and 2026, when our country will hold the presidency of the G7.”
David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, is also expected to focus on Ukraine in his remarks, as well calling for stability in the Middle East and action on the conflicts in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Article by:Source: Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
