Rishi Sunak confronts Russians at G20 Summit - tells Putin to ‘get out of Ukraine and end this barbaric war’

The Prime Minister was talking at a session with Russian officials

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has confronted Russian officials at the G20 summit in Bali, calling on them to end the “barbaric war” in Ukraine. The words of his speech were released by 10 Downing Street on Tuesday morning.

The PM joined the  18 other G20 leaders (Russian President, Vladimir Putin, did not attend) in Bali at the summit to discuss ongoing world affairs. Perhaps unsurprisingly one of the biggest talking points has been Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The war has been ongoing since February, when Russia invaded areas of South West Ukraine. In the months that followed, thousands of civilians have been killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.

In a session with Russian officials, Mr Sunak pointed out the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the transcript he said: "It is notable that Putin didn’t feel able to join us here.

"Maybe if he had, we could get on with sorting things out. Because the single biggest difference that anyone could make is for Russia to get out of Ukraine and end this barbaric war.

"That would be transformative for Ukraine, and for the world. The UK rejects this aggression. We will back Ukraine for as long as it takes."

Mr Sunak was also critical of Russia invading one of its geographical neighbours and its attack on the civilian population. He added: "It is very simple - countries should not invade their neighbours, they should not attack civilian infrastructure and civilian populations and they should not threaten nuclear escalation. Surely these are things on which we can all agree,"