RIO DE JANEIRO —
With just two months remaining in President Joe Biden’s administration, the U.S. is ramping up financial, military and diplomatic support for Kyiv’s effort to defend itself against Russian aggression.
At the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where Biden and leaders of 20 of the world’s largest economies are meeting, U.S. officials are pushing for the “strongest possible” language on Ukraine, deputy national security adviser John Finer told VOA during a briefing Monday.
Western diplomats have renewed their push for stronger criticism on Moscow following Russia’s weekend airstrike, its largest on Ukrainian territory in months.
They’ve also warned on increased Russian war efforts that could have a destabilizing effect beyond Europe. Earlier this month, the U.S. and Ukraine announced that North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops to help Moscow reclaim territory seized by Ukraine in Russia’s Kursk region.
The final joint leaders’ statement is still being negotiated but a draft seen by VOA and other versions circulating on social media suggest it will only include broad language underscoring U.N. principles and the need to respect peace in Ukraine and Gaza.
Finer acknowledges that finding a consensus on global conflicts is elusive given the diversity of the G20. In addition to mostly like-minded countries of the G7, the G20 also includes Russia, China and nations of the Global South.
“We’ll see where it lands,” he said.
Ever since the G20 2022 summit in Bali, held months after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the global grouping has faced challenges hammering out a response to the conflict.
Long-range missiles authorized
The U.S. is also authorizing Kyiv to use American-supplied long-range missiles to strike inside Russia and is surging U.S. military assistance to Kyiv, according to media reports quoting officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Finer declined to confirm but said it is “consistent” with the U.S. approach of tailoring its response to meet developments on the ground to “allow the Ukrainians to continue to defend their territory and their sovereignty.”
On Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that if true, authorization for Kyiv to strike inside Russia with U.S. long-range missiles, “will mark a qualitatively new round of tensions and level of Washington’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict.”
Last week in Brussels, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought to reassure European allies that Biden is “committed to making sure that every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and January 20,” the date of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Trump has been critical of using American taxpayer’s money to help Kyiv. Without providing details, Trump often boasts he can swiftly end the war, even before he takes office — a statement that many in Europe fear would mean forcing Ukraine to capitulate.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he wants a “just end” to the war and that a swift end “means losses.” On Saturday he told Ukrainian public radio that under the Trump administration, “the war will end faster.”
“This is their approach, the promise to their country,” he said. “And for them, it is also very important.”
Climate change, poverty alleviation
G20 host Brazil has worked to keep the focus of talks away from global conflicts and more on issues raised at the ongoing U.N. conference on climate change in Azerbaijan, and on accelerating efforts to reduce global hunger and poverty — an initiative championed by summit host President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Lula’s approach to resist pressures from the G7 and the rest of the G20 on Ukraine and Gaza reflects Brazil’s strategy of “multi-alignment” in an increasingly fragmented global landscape, said Bruna Santos, director at the Wilson Center’s Brazil Institute.
However, “neutrality risks alienating all sides in an increasingly polarized world,” Santos told VOA.
Aside from divisions on global conflicts, negotiators in Rio have been struggling to find consensus on shared language on climate financing, said diplomatic sources who spoke with VOA on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations.
Western nations have been pushing for China and wealthy Middle Eastern countries to join them in contributing to global funds for climate change mitigation — a proposal resisted by Brazil and other member countries of the Global South.
Another Lula proposal, a 2% tax on the super-rich that Brazil says can potentially generate up to $250 billion per year to help the world’s poor, has also met new resistance.
Argentinian right-wing President Javier Milei rejected the proposal after visiting Trump at his Florida residence, the first foreign leader to visit the president-elect.
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