We study the statistical properties of stationary, isotropic and homogeneous turbulence in two-dimensional (2D) flows, focusing on the direct cascade, that is on large wave-numbers compared to the integral scale, where both energy and enstrophy are provided to the fluid. Our starting point is the 2D Navier–Stokes equation in the presence of a stochastic forcing, or more precisely the associated field theory. We unveil two extended symmetries of the Navier–Stokes action which were not yet identified, one related to time-dependent (or time-gauged) shifts of the response fields and existing in both 2D and 3D, and the other to time-gauged rotations and specific to 2D flows. We derive the corresponding Ward identities, and exploit them within the non-perturbative renormalization group formalism, and the large wave-number expansion scheme developed in Tarpin et al (2018 Phys. Fluids 30 055102). We consider the flow equation for a generalized n-point correlation function, and calculate its leading order term in the large wave-number expansion. At this order, the resulting flow equation can be closed exactly. We solve the fixed point equation for the 2-point function, which yields its explicit time dependence, for both small and large time delays in the stationary turbulent state. On the other hand, at equal times, the leading order term vanishes, so we compute the next-to-leading order term. We find that the flow equations for equal-time n-point correlation functions are not fully constrained by the set of extended symmetries, and discuss the consequences.