Live: G20 finance talks in Bali dominated by impact of war in Ukraine

Issued on: 15/07/2022 – 08:02

07:00am: Sharp increase in burials in Russian-held Ukraine, NGO reports

Satellite photos and on-the-ground images reveal a sharp increase in burials in Russian-held areas of Ukraine, according to a report released Friday. 

The non-government Centre for Information Resilience analysed images of burials in six areas — two of them previously held by Russian forces and the rest still under Moscow’s control in southern Ukraine.

“Open source information can give unprecedented reach behind the frontlines of the war in Ukraine and into areas occupied by Russian forces,” said Benjamin Strick, director of investigations at CIR.

At the Starokrymske cemetery in Mariupol, the report’s authors said that around 1,000 new graves could be seen over a period of around five months between October 21 and March 28.

The rate of burials grew sharply after that, with 1,141 new graves seen in satellite images between March 28 and May 12 and over 1,700 more between May 12 and June 29, the authors said.

The figures could not be independently verified.

03:54am: Hosts call for G20 members to focus on “building bridges” rather than politics

G20 finance leaders meeting in Bali must make progress tackling the global economic threats sparked by Russia’s war in Ukraine or the humanitarian consequences would be catastrophic, host Indonesia said on Friday.

Some Western ministers blasted Russian officials attending the talks, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen saying Russia’s “brutal and unjust war” was solely responsible for the economic crisis the world now faced.

Finance leaders from the Group of 20 major economies are meeting on the resort island, as host Indonesia tries to find common ground in a group frayed by the Ukraine war and rising economic pressures from soaring inflation.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin calls a “special military operation”, has overshadowed recent G20 meetings, including last week’s gathering of foreign ministers.

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the world had high hopes the group could find a solution to the threat of war, rising commodity prices and the spillover effects on the ability of low-income countries to repay debt.

“We are acutely aware that the cost of our failure to work together is more than we can afford. The humanitarian consequences for the world, and especially for many low income countries would be catastrophic,” she said. 

Mulyani called for G20 members to talk less about politics and “build bridges between each other” to deliver more technical decisions and concrete action.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and REUTERS)