Let's not fool ourselves. The multinational bloc against Russia for its "illegal and unprovoked" invasion of Ukraine is broad and powerful, but it is far from constituting a global alliance, no matter how much its promoters describe it as such.
The discrepancies around the conflict throughout the planet were staged just yesterday, one year after the start of the conflict, at the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors of the G-20, which is being held in Bangalore . The Indian hosts were reluctant to condemn the Russian aggression or even include the word war in the final communiqué, which France refused to sign without such elements.
The French head of Finance, Bruno Le Maire, rejected a setback regarding the minimum agreement reached at the G-20 summit held in Bali in November, where the leaders of the main economies confirmed that "the majority of the members of the group condemn strongly the war in Ukraine”. Le Maire said yesterday: "Either we use the same language as in Bali or we don't sign the statement."
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the G-20 should focus on the aftermath of the pandemic, rising debt levels, cuts in supply chains and threats to food and energy security. But Modi refused to discuss new sanctions on Russia. And no "war".
It must be remembered that while the West vetoed or limited oil imports to Russia this last year, India multiplied its imports by more than ten, at bargain prices. More generally, what will soon be the most populous country on Earth – if it isn't already – announced a few days ago that its trade with Russia has grown by 400% since Vladimir Putin's troops entered Ukraine.
Added to the discrepancies in New Delhi regarding the war, which neither China nor Iran condemn, is the general distancing and various pronouncements from Latin America. The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, considered yesterday "urgent" that a group of countries not involved in the conflict "assume the responsibility of leading negotiations" between Russia and Ukraine "to restore peace."
Meanwhile, Washington launched new sanctions against Russia, from strong tariff increases to the embargo of assets and interests that more than sixty senior officials and entities "accomplices" in the aggression against Ukraine may have in the United States. The superpower coordinated the sanctions with the rest of the G-7 (Germany, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Canada). Its leaders held a virtual meeting in which they agreed on a plan to extend the punishment to Russian companies and banks, ensure that Moscow pays for the reconstruction of Ukraine and act "against third-country actors who materially support" the invasion.
So far, sanctions on Moscow have weakened the country without breaking it down. The effectiveness of the new measures remains to be seen. There are not a few nations that dodge them or even take advantage of them.
