On Sunday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travelled to his first G20 summit, urging world powers to unite against the exploitation of the global economy by “malicious actors”.
After becoming the UK’s third prime minister this year, Sunak is expected to have his first bilateral meetings with US President Joe Biden and other world leaders at the summit in Bali, Indonesia.
In addition to backing Western unity against Russia over Ukraine, Sunak wants allies to strengthen the international financial system, including the World Trade Organization, according to Downing Street.
Developing countries must have access to credit for economic growth without becoming dependent on “exploitative” lenders, Sunak is expected to say at the summit, echoing past G7 criticism of China.
The WTO should be reformed to curb the “manipulation of global markets by malicious actors”, he will also say in another coded criticism of G20 member China.
Sunak’s pre-summit warnings against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime were clearer.
“We will call out Putin’s regime and show its utter disregard for the kind of international cooperation and respect for sovereignty that forums like the G20 represent,” he said in a statement on Saturday.
Although Putin will not attend the summit, Sunak’s spokesman said the prime minister would face Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Bali.
Some pundits had questioned whether Sunak could be soft on Russia given Britain’s economic crisis due to soaring energy prices.
But Sunak’s spokesman told reporters that Britain’s support for Ukraine “will not fade or change”.
In Bali, Sunak “will speak with our allies with one voice about this,” the spokesman added.
Sunak is due to fly back to Britain early Thursday and head straight for his finance minister’s presentation of an emergency budget statement.
The statement is expected to include painful tax hikes and spending cuts after Sunak’s short-lived predecessor, Liz Truss, panicked the markets with a series of unfunded tax cuts.
Sunak said Thursday’s budget would “outline how we will get this country on the right track.”
“But tackling the biggest economic crisis of a decade will require a concerted effort from the world’s biggest economies – these are not problems we can solve alone,” he said before flying to Bali.
“At the G20, leaders must step up their efforts to correct the weaknesses in the international economic system that Putin has exploited for years.