The senior U.S. diplomat was absent due to a rivalry with the hosts, while tensions between members over the Ukraine war and trade disputes accompanied the G20’s top economies’ foreign ministers’ meeting in South Africa on Thursday.
Although the G20 nations, which account for around 85% of the world’s GDP and three-quarters of its commerce, frequently have disagreements, geopolitical divisions since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine have made it more contentious than ever.
Since President Donald Trump took office one month ago and swiftly altered Washington’s diplomatic and trade policy, the division has grown.
“Geopolitical tensions and rising intolerance, conflict, and war… threaten an already fragile global coexistence,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who serves as the group’s rotating president, stated in his opening remarks at the event, which concludes on Friday.
Laptops 1000South Africa views the continent’s first G20 gathering as a chance to persuade affluent nations to pay attention to the problems of poorer nations, including growing inequality, insufficient climate change action from wealthier nations, and a financial system that prioritizes investment banks over low-income sovereign borrowers.
“Those most responsible for climate change, you have a duty and a responsibility to support those least responsible,” Ramaphosa stated, as well as requesting “debt sustainability for low-income countries.”
The United States did not participate because earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio deemed the previously agreed-upon agenda of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” to be “very bad.”
Trump then halted U.S. aid to South Africa due to an ideological disagreement over the country’s attempts to correct historical racial injustices in land ownership and its International Court of Justice genocide case against U.S. partner Israel.
Trump has reversed the U.S. position of solidarity with Ukraine in an attempt to mediate a settlement in its conflict with Russia, which is why the gathering is taking place.
He has accused President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of causing the war and has disengaged NATO allies from an effort to isolate Russia.
“As the G20, we must continue to advocate for diplomatic solutions to conflicts,” said Ramaphosa, who has resisted demands to isolate Russia over the incursion.
The absence of the United States presents a chance for China, the second-largest economy in the world, to increase its power.
On Monday, the foreign ministry stated that the need for “healthy and stable” China-EU relations is greater than ever.
