MARRAKECH — Disagreements over language referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prevented the issuance of a joint statement from the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
Officials gathered in Morocco to discuss economic and monetary policy have failed to come to a consensus after countries including Ukraine, the Netherlands, Canada and the Nordics objected to the way the invasion was described in a draft text.
The language was “totally unacceptable” said an official from Ukraine, who was granted anonymity to speak about confidential talks. “It was just not strong enough,” said an official from another country.
Spain, which chaired the talks, had proposed replicating the language agreed to by G20 leaders in Delhi last month, which did not condemn Russia but instead stated that there are “different views and assessments of the situation.”
“We have tried our best to reach a communique,” Spanish Finance Minister Nadia Calviño said. “This was not possible.”
Instead, the IMF issued a “chair’s statement,” as it did after IMF and World Bank meetings in the spring.
Similarly, a communique issued on Friday by G20 finance ministers and central governors did not mention Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nor the unfolding conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas.
