India claims G20 members reach consensus on many issues despite ongoing Ukraine disputes

Foreign ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) nations arrived at a consensus on many issues after a meeting in New Delhi and focused on what "unites" them, G20 chair India said on Thursday, even though the Russia-Ukraine war overshadowed the discussions.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said G20 member states could not "reconcile positions" on Ukraine and "there were divergences" on issues related to the conflict.

He added that the "outcome document" of the meeting would stress the importance of reliable food and fertiliser supply chains and of a resilient energy supply.

The United States and Russia met in their highest face-to-face contact since the invasion of Ukraine last year on the sidelines of a G20 meeting. 

US Secretary of State and Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke briefly at the meeting of the world's top diplomats in New Delhi, which failed to reach a joint final declaration after objections from Moscow and Beijing.

Blinken reaffirmed Washington's commitment to protecting its ally Ukraine in order to "disabuse the Russians of any notion that our support might be wavering", a US official said on condition of anonymity.