The G20 was created to give the world hope that our most pressing problems could be resolved. That is why I am travelling to Delhi to put forward Germany’s priorities: we are working on solutions to the debt crisis because far too many countries are at risk of collapsing under their huge debt burden. We are mobilising all our forces in the global fight against hunger, for example in East Africa where millions of people ask every day what they can feed their children. And we are working towards building a new international financial architecture because climate change is making natural disasters ever more severe and ever more expensive. It is an outrageous injustice that the countries suffering most from the climate crisis are often those which have contributed least to it.

We have to focus all our energy on tackling these major global challenges. This includes countering Russia’s cynical game as it tries to drive a wedge into the international community. It is Russia’s missiles that are targeting innocent people in Ukraine and have also impacted on the food and energy security of many hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The fact that last week – one year after the start of the Russian attack – the large majority of states in the UN General Assembly again condemned Russia’s brutal war gives me hope. The international community stands united when it comes to the fundamental issue of defending our UN Charter.