New Delhi | Anthony Albanese has hailed a watered-down leaders’ declaration at the G20 summit that was critical of the humanitarian and economic consequences of the Ukraine invasion, but which also implicitly recognised the rights of Russia and its backers, including China, to disagree with the assessments.

After months of negotiations, in which China helped Russia with moves to scuttle any meaningful condemnation of the war at the gathering of the world’s largest economies, a declaration was issued which included the same carve-out for Russia and its backers as was in the Bali declaration when the G20 last met in November.