On the back foot at the Group of 20 summit and appearing increasingly isolated, Russian diplomats are fanning out in Bali to again push unsubstantiated claims that nations including the U.S. are to blame for high global food prices, rather than their own invasion of Ukraine.
With food security — including access to grain supplies and crucial fertilizers for the 2023 crop season — dominating the first day of the summit on the Indonesian island, Russian officials are seeking traction with poorer states that have borne the brunt of shortages and rising prices. It’s part of an effort to sow divisions between richer Group of Seven countries and what is known as the “Global South.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stood in for President Vladimir Putin, who is not attending the summit. One of the few formal events he joined in Bali was the summit session on food security, where host President Joko Widodo warned of a looming crisis due to shortfalls in fertilizer.
