[NUSA DUA, BALI] THE fact that world leaders at the G20 summit were able to issue a joint declaration that condemned the war in Ukraine was an important move, for it allowed Russia to realise the “weight of the opinion” of the international community.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made this point in an interview with the Singapore media on Wednesday (Nov 16) at the end of the two-day summit in Bali, in his first public comments since Russia launched extensive missile attacks on Ukrainian cities on Tuesday.

Another missile struck a village in Poland near the Ukrainian border, killing two people. Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary-general of security alliance Nato, said that this was likely the result of Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire, although he added that Russia bears “ultimate responsibility” for the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was not at the summit in Bali, with his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov leading his country’s delegation instead. Lavrov abruptly departed Bali on Tuesday night when the other G20 leaders were having dinner, just hours after listening to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tell the summit that “now is the time” to end Russia’s war.

In a joint declaration issued on Wednesday, the majority of G20 members “strongly condemned” the war in Ukraine, adding that the conflict is causing “immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy”.

“We did not expect (Lavrov) to change his view as a result of hearing what the G20 members said,” said PM Lee.

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“But I think it’s important that these views were expressed, and that Russia knows that this is the weight of the opinion of the international community, and that the view that Russia is in the wrong has not changed.”

The prime minister said that “it would have been a weakening of our moral case” had the G20 leaders not been able to put those statements in their joint declaration.

“(It would also be) a weakening of the pressure which is necessary to be brought to bear on a country that has transgressed against international norms, and underpinned the UN Charter,” said PM Lee.

The attacks led to the convening of an emergency meeting by the leaders of Nato and the G7 countries, on the sidelines of the G20 summit. They issued a joint statement to “condemn the barbaric missile attacks that Russia perpetrated on Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure”. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the “astonishingly clear words” G20 leaders agreed on in their declaration was proof that Putin is an increasingly isolated figure due to the war.

“The Russian president is almost alone in the world with his policy and has no strong alliance partner,” he said.

During the interview with the Singapore journalists, PM Lee gave his assessment of the historic meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping that took place on Monday in Bali.

He said the meeting showed the intention of both sides to stabilise relations, avoid conflict and to work together to “resolve the very difficult problems” which are between them.

“They are renewing cooperation on things like climate change. They are going to follow up with high-level contacts and discussions. (US Secretary of State) Anthony Blinken is going to China in the first quarter of next year,” said PM Lee.

“They are starting to deal with the problems, but of course the problems themselves are very difficult ones and it will take some time to resolve, and I think it will be tough. I think it’s a positive outcome, but it’s far from the end of the issue.”

With the world going through a turbulent period with geopolitical tensions and a war, PM Lee’s message for Singaporeans was to understand that these international developments can affect them too.

“This is a troubled world. We watch the developments day to day, they can affect us. What happens in Ukraine already affects us in terms of inflation, the cost of energy and food, and the preoccupation with security issues,” he said.

“And if there is a conflict in our part of the world, or problems between the US and China, that will most definitely affect us. It could be instability in the region. It could be considerable economic impact on investment flows and trade flows.”

He called on Singaporeans to be psychologically prepared and realise that things could go wrong. He said: “Let’s stay together and work together. United, we can come through this.”