G20 finance leaders fail to agree on war wording

Finance chiefs from the G20 major economies have failed to agree on a joint statement amid deep divisions over the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, prompting host Brazil to prepare its own document to sum up talks. Russia and major Western nations at loggerheads over the language of a joint communique according to sources. The debate highlights deep divides among the group's members over escalating geopolitical tensions that chair Brazil has struggled to work around. The tensions have threatened to overshadow the meeting's agenda, including the idea of a global minimum tax on the ultra-rich floated by the host Brazil. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner had said earlier on Thursday there was still hope the G20 finance ministers would agree on a communique with a reference to geopolitical risks to economic growth. But the group of finance ministers and central bank governors could not agree on parts of the statement, the sources said. The G7 group of rich Western nations and Japan backed the idea of referring to the war "on" Ukraine, while Russia wanted to describe it as the war "in" Ukraine, said two sources, one of whom was with the Brazilian delegation. The G7 countries also backed language describing the war in Gaza as a "humanitarian crisis" with no mention of Israel, the sources said. Brazilian officials hosting the event have tried to focus talks on economic cooperation to tackle issues such as climate change and poverty, but countries including Germany pushed for a joint statement mentioning wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Lindner insisted there could be no business as usual amid a war against Ukraine, Hamas "terror" and a humanitarian situation in Gaza. Despite the standoff, Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Development Program saw the start of Brazil's presidency this year as a success. "Brazil had set clear priorities, for example, with their tax proposal," Steiner said. As part of efforts to address inequality, Brazil has proposed debates on a global minimum wealth tax that would ensure increased tax contributions by super-rich individuals. "Even with slightly higher tax rates for the approximately 2,500 billionaires worldwide, very considerable additional revenue could be generated," he said. Brazil will aim to craft a statement on international taxation by the group's July summit, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Thursday. He said he was expecting a report on the matter from the European Tax Observatory, which has advocated for a global wealth tax on the world's richest people, in contrast with income taxes common in most major economies. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire expressed support for a global minimum tax on the world's most wealthy.