At a G20 financial leaders summit, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen accused Russian officials of being “complicit” in atrocities in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, host India avoided addressing the year-long war in opening comments.

The war and its impact on the global economy are set to dominate the two-day summit. Still, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the financial leaders to focus on the world’s “most vulnerable citizens.”

Modi claimed the COVID-19 epidemic and “growing geo-political tensions in different areas of the world” had caused unsustainable debt levels in numerous nations, supply chain disruptions, and food and energy security challenges.

“I would encourage that your conversations should focus on the most vulnerable residents of the globe,” he added, adding that stability, confidence, and prosperity must return to the global economy.

Yellen urged G20 leaders to “redouble their efforts to protect Ukraine and curb Russia’s capacity to conduct war” on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.

During a virtual conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy later Friday, G7 leaders are set to impose further penalties against Russia’s war effort.

Before that meeting, Britain imposed fresh sanctions on Russia, including export limits on all military equipment and import bans on iron and steel.

Russia, China, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and the G7 comprise the G20. At the G20 summit in India, representatives represented Moscow instead of Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina.

Yellen said Putin’s “weaponization” of food and energy had impacted Ukraine, the global economy, and emerging nations.

Yellen told Russian officials at the G20 that working for the Kremlin makes them complicit in Putin’s atrocities. “They are responsible for the deaths and destruction in Ukraine and beyond.”

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told Reuters that G20 finance leaders must denounce Russia’s actions against Ukraine and that Europe was considering further sanctions against Moscow.

G20 officials told Reuters that India, which holds the G20 presidency, did not want the union to debate new penalties on Russia or use the phrase “war” to characterize the confrontation.

Delhi has bought more Russian oil while remaining neutral. Russia labels its Ukrainian activities “special military operation.”

Yellen said the declaration was still under development and wanted a forceful denunciation of Russia’s invasion and its impact on Ukraine and the global economy.

The conference comes after the last G20 summit in October when several economies were on the edge of recession due to war-related oil and food price hikes.

“The global economy is in a better condition today than many projected just a few months ago,”

Yellen said.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts 2.9% global GDP growth for 2023, up from 2.7% in October but still behind 2022’s 3.4%.

According to Yellen, during the last year, G20 central banks and governments have worked together to curb inflation, even at the sacrifice of GDP.

Yellen said that reduced energy costs and inflation in the US and other nations needed to continue to limit conflict spillovers such as food shortages, energy prices, and Russian profits.

China, the world’s largest bilateral creditor, and other nations are under pressure to take a big haircut on loans during the G20 conference.

China’s finance minister, Liu Kun, repeated Beijing’s insistence that the World Bank and other multilateral development institutions take haircuts alongside bilateral creditors in a video speech to the gathering.

Liu advised “joint action, fair burden” for international financial institutions and commercial debtors.