A year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the war is deepening the division among the world’s major economies, threatening fragile recoveries by disrupting food and energy supply chains and distracting from plans to combat poverty and restructure debt in poor countries.

Those fissures were evident this past week as top economic policymakers from the Group of 20 nations gathered for two days at a resort in Bangalore where efforts to demonstrate unity were overshadowed by flaring tensions over Russia. During the summit, western nations imposed a barrage of new sanctions on Moscow and unveiled more economic support for Ukraine, while developing countries like India, which have been reaping the benefits of cheap Russian oil, resisted expressing criticism.

However, on Saturday the meeting of finance leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies ended without a joint communiqué after Russia and China opposed any reference to the war in Ukraine.

Instead, a G20 chair’s Summary and Outcome Document was released after the two-day meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors here. It carried two paragraphs on the war but added that this was not agreed to by Russia and China.

Countries such as the US and France wanted a condemnation of Moscow for the invasion while host India initially felt G20 was not the forum to address such an issue and wanted a more neutral term like “crisis” or a “challenge” to describe the “geopolitical situation”.

Earlier on Saturday, US treasury secretary Janet Yellen said, “Ukraine is fighting not only for their country, but for the preservation of democracy and peaceful conditions in Europe”, while explaining the case that she had made to the more reluctant countries.

“It’s an assault on democracy and on territorial integrity that should concern all of us,” she added.

Speaking to Reuters, Yellen said a strong statement condemning Russia’s war in Ukraine was “absolutely necessary” for the communiqué.

She said leaving a war condemnation out of the communiqué would be a step back from a statement made by G20 leaders last November on the Indonesian island of Bali.

“I think there has to be a statement in the communiquécondemning Russia’s war. We’ve had it in the past, in Bali and it’s something that I think is absolutely necessary,” Yellen said.

“And I think the G7 is certainly united on that, so it’s something that I would expect and I think is necessary and appropriate.”

The summit took place at a pivotal moment for the global economy. The IMF last month upgraded its global output projections but warned that Russia’s war in Ukraine continued to cast a cloud of uncertainty.

The fund also noted that increasing “fragmentation” in the world could be a drag on growth in the future.

Yellen was among the most forceful critics of Russia during the two-day meeting. At one point, she directly confronted senior Russian officials in a private session and called them “complicit” in the Kremlin’s atrocities.