According to AFP, G20 finance ministers on Saturday tried to agree on a joint communiqué after meeting in India amid disagreements with China over the war in Ukraine.

“Discussions are more difficult than in previous G20 (financial) meetings because the war continues,” Spanish Finance Minister Nadia Calvino said on Saturday.

Because of this, “some positions may be less constructive on certain issues,” the minister emphasized, without specifying which country or countries he was referring to.

China wants to soften the wording on Ukraine in the G20 joint financial statement, officials familiar with the negotiations told AFP.

In this context, a joint communique is unlikely to appear, some officials said on condition of anonymity.

According to one of them, “China does not want to condemn the war” in Ukraine.

Another official said negotiations to agree on a deadline continued until 2:00 a.m. (08:30 GMT).

Three previous G20 financial meetings last year, held under Indonesia’s chairmanship, did not produce a joint communique.

China has never publicly supported or criticized the offensive, but has repeatedly expressed support for Moscow in the face of Western sanctions.

For its part, India, which chairs the G20 and has long-standing ties with Russia, did not condemn Moscow’s military intervention.

Germany and France on Friday called for the word “war” to be included in the final G20 financial communique.

In Ukraine, “it’s a war. And this war has one cause, one cause only, and that is Russia and (Russian President) Vladimir Putin,” German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire echoed the words of his German counterpart.

“We will be against any return to the joint communique, compared to the statement made in Bali regarding the war in Ukraine,” he said at a press conference in English.

In November, heads of state and G20 leaders met at a summit in Bali, Indonesia.

Their final statement stated that “the majority of members strongly condemned the war.”