INDIA’S Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a unanimous final agreement from the G20 summit, the group of 20 top economies, on Saturday that included words on the war in Ukraine.

The agreement had softer wording than last year’s G20 communique and did not directly denounce Moscow. 

It read: “All states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state.”

Amitabh Kant, India’s top G20 negotiator, said: “This is the first declaration without a single footnote or a chair’s summary.”

The wording was dismissed by Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko, who said the G20 had “nothing to be proud of.”

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the wording “was a sign that the global South was no longer willing to be lectured.”

It came as nations of the global south are queuing up to join the Brics group, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Brics agreed last month to expand next year with six new members, including Saudi Arabia and Iran.

During the G20 summit the African Union was awarded permanent member status.