No consensus, still

G20 negotiators were unable to resolve disagreements over the wording of the summit declaration on the war in Ukraine on Friday (8 September), according to a draft seen by Reuters, leaving any possible breakthrough to bloc leaders during the two-day meeting.
The 38-page draft that was circulated among members left the “geopolitical situation” paragraph blank, while it had agreed on the 75 other paragraphs which included climate change, cryptocurrencies and reforms in multilateral development banks.

G20 sherpas have been struggling for days to agree on the language because of differences over the war, hoping to get Russia on board to produce a communique.

A joint declaration may or may not come to a unanimous agreement. It could have different paragraphs stating the views of different countries. Or it could record agreement and dissent in one paragraph.

According to another senior source in one of the G20 countries, the paragraphs on the war on Ukraine had been agreed by Western countries and was sent to Russia for its views.

The official said Russia had the option to accept the Western countries’ views and give its dissent as a part of the statement. In the absence of an agreement, India will have to issue a chair statement, which would mean that G20 for the first time in 20 years of summits will not have a declaration.