Russia accuses G20 members of politicizing health talks after criticism
over Ukraine
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[June 20, 2022]
By Stanley Widianto
(Reuters) - Russia on Monday accused some
members of the Group of 20 major economies of politicizing a meeting on
global health, as it faced criticism over how its invasion of Ukraine in
February had plunged its healthcare system into chaos.
The war in Ukraine has overshadowed G20 meetings this year, with current
chair Indonesia struggling to keep the group united and resisting
pressure from Western members to exclude Russia.
"We are asking our colleagues not to politicize G20 health platform and
stay within our mandate and discuss healthcare," Russian health ministry
official Oleg Salagay told a G20 health ministers' meeting in the
Indonesian city of Yogyakarta.
Representatives of the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada
urged Russia to ends its aggression.
Russia has described its invasion of Ukraine as a "special military
operation" to demilitarise its neighbour and rid it of dangerous
nationalists threatening its Russian-speaking population.
Andrea Palm, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, said Russia's war was "directly at odds with the goals of G20
healthcare and our goal of promoting global health".
"Far from promoting global health, Russia has disrupted health services,
destroyed health facilities, and continue to strike buildings where
innocent civilians including children are sheltering," Palm said.
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![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Jun/20/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png) Russia denies targeting civilians
and medical facilities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said
Russian forces have devastated hundreds of hospitals and other
institutions and left doctors without drugs to tackle cancer or
unable to perform surgeries.
At Monday's meeting, Russia was out of step with most members over
its caution on a multi-billion dollar fund that G20 countries have
provisionally agreed to set up to strengthen pandemic prevention and
preparedness.
"The creation of the so-called Financial Intermediary Fund carries
certain risks," Salagay said.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Jun/20/images/ads/current/graue_sda_042021.png)
"It is important to prevent duplication of existing international
institutions and fragmentations financial resources as well as the
weakening of the coordinating role of the WHO and communications
between programmes of the organisation," he said.
Salagay said it was necessary to ensure sustainable funding for the
World Health Organization (WHO) to create capacities within it to
fight pandemics.
China, which has declined to condemn Russia's action in Ukraine and
has criticised sweeping Western sanctions against Russia in
response, told the meeting that it welcomed any effort to improve
global health governance and strengthen national health systems. It
did not mention the issue of Ukraine.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto in Bandung and Zahra Matarani in
Jakarta; Editing by Ed Davies, Robert Birsel)
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