Diplomats reported that during a meeting in Brazil on Wednesday, foreign ministers from the G20 group of nations criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov listened.

According to his office, British Foreign Minister David Cameron stated in a closed session that Russia needs to be held accountable for its aggressive actions.

On the initial day of a two-day gathering, the leading diplomats from the US, Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, France, and Norway expressed similar sentiments.

The Norwegian Foreign Minister, Espen Barth Eide, informed journalists that Lavrov responded calmly to Cameron’s statements by presenting “an alternative set of facts” regarding the situation in Ukraine.

Lavrov declined to address the media. Russia’s explanation for its “special military operation” in Ukraine, initiated two years ago, was initially centered around “de-Nazifying” Ukraine. However, more recently, Moscow has emphasized the need to protect against Western aggression.

The meeting was set to prepare the agenda for a G20 summit in November. At a summit in September, G20 leaders adopted a declaration that avoided condemning Russia for the war in Ukraine but called on all states not to use force to grab territory.

Last week, Cameron also acknowledged the passing of Russian prisoner and dissident Alexey Navalny.

During the G20 session in Rio, Eide discussed the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. He emphasized the importance of supporting Ukraine until it achieves independence and sovereignty without the presence of foreign military forces on its land.

According to Eide, the ministers who addressed the meeting all recognized the importance of a two-state solution in the Middle East, but there was no agreement on the approach to achieve it.

The current leader of the G20, Brazil, began the foreign ministers’ gathering by accusing the United Nations and other international organizations of not effectively preventing conflicts that result in the loss of innocent lives.

Brazil’s main focus for this year, according to Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, is pushing for significant changes in global governance.

During the meeting, Vieira stated that multilateral organizations are not sufficiently prepared to address present difficulties, exemplified by the Security Council’s unacceptable state of inaction regarding ongoing conflicts.

He stated that this state of inaction leads to innocent lives being lost.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva in Brasilia on his way to the Rio meeting and expressed U.S. support for Brazil’s agenda to make global governance more effective.

The spokesperson for the U.S. confirmed that the top diplomat had a conversation with Lula about Israel’s conflict in Gaza. This came after the Brazilian leader compared the war to the genocide carried out by the Nazis during World War Two, causing a diplomatic disagreement.

Brazil’s President Lula’s recent statements about Israel’s actions in Gaza caused a diplomatic conflict, resulting in a reprimand from Israel and Brazil recalling its ambassador.