[NUSA DUA, BALI] AS the G20 Summit in Bali draws to a close on Wednesday (Nov 16), a draft declaration set to be issued by the group’s leaders indicates that most members “strongly condemn” the war in Ukraine and its debilitating economic impact on the rest of the world.

Russia does not appear deterred, launching missile strikes against the Ukraine capital Kyiv late at night.

The Bali summit is the first time the G20 leaders – including US President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron – are meeting in person since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

The 16-page joint communique – which still needs to be endorsed by the leaders before it is made public, and is likely to be opposed by Russia – stated that “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy”.

The document goes on to say G20 leaders agreed that “the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons” is “inadmissible”, following after Russian President Vladimir Putin making these threats repeatedly.

Putin chose not to travel to Bali, citing his busy schedule. Instead, he sent his top diplomat, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, to lead Russia’s delegation.

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Lavrov remained in the conference room when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appeared via a video link and told the leaders that now was the time to stop Russia’s “destructive” war in his country under a peace plan he has proposed “justly and on the basis of the United Nations Charter and international law”.

Zelenskiy had strong words for the “crazy threats” of nuclear weapons that Russian officials resort to.

“There are, and cannot be, any excuses for nuclear blackmail,” he added, as he made a special effort to thank the “G19” – a deliberate exclusion of Russia – for “making this clear”.

The G20 accounts for more than 80 per cent of global gross domestic product, 75 per cent of international trade and 60 per cent of the world’s population.

At the opening of the two-day summit, Indonesian President Joko Widodo called on his fellow G20 members to “end the war”.

“Being responsible means that we must end the war. If the war doesn’t end, it will be difficult for the world to move forward. If the war doesn’t end, it will be difficult for us to take responsibility for the future of the current generation and future generations,” he said.

Although he did not specifically mention Russia by name in his speech, Widodo urged the grouping to not allow another Cold War to occur between the world’s major powers.

“We should not divide the world into parts. We must not allow the world to fall into another Cold War,” he said.

“Success will only be achieved if all of us, without exception, are committed, work hard, put aside our differences to produce something concrete, something that is beneficial to the world,” said Widodo, who is more popularly known as Jokowi.

Separately at the summit, the White House announced that nine nations including the US and Japan have pledged to raise at least US$20 billion to help wean Indonesia off coal and reach carbon neutrality by 2050 – a full decade earlier than planned.

The US, Japan, Canada and a coalition of European partners inked the deal with South-east Asia’s largest economy to ensure a “just power sector transition” away from Indonesia’s heavy dependence on coal.

As part of the agreement, Indonesia also pledged to almost double its renewable energy generation by 2030.

“Indonesia is committed to using our energy transition to achieve a green economy and drive sustainable development,” said Widodo, adding that the deal would help to accelerate this transition.