G20 threatened by geopolitical fractures, leaders warn
- Macron said: “We are struggling to resolve major crises together around this table“
- “There’s no doubt, the road ahead is tough,” said Starmer
JOHANNESBURG: The G20’s role in fixing economic crises is threatened by geopolitical fractures, leaders warned Saturday at a summit in South Africa boycotted by the United States.
European leaders attending the G20 summit — the first held in Africa — huddled on its sidelines to push back at a unilateral plan by US President Donald Trump aimed at ending the war in Ukraine on terms favoring Russia.
In a joint statement issued with Canada and Japan, they said Trump’s plan needs “additional work” and some of its points required “the consent of EU and NATO members.”
Speaking at the opening of the summit, one of the statement’s signatories, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “We are struggling to resolve major crises together around this table.”
He warned that, given fissures in international cooperation, “the G20 may be coming to the end of a cycle.”
“There’s no doubt, the road ahead is tough,” agreed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer — who also signed the statement — adding: “We need to find ways to play a constructive role again today in the face of the world challenges.”
Chinese Premier Li Qiang said “unilateralism and protectionism are rampant” and “many people are pondering what exactly is happening to global solidarity.”
But the summit’s host, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, downplayed Trump’s absence and argued the G20 remained key for international cooperation.
“The G20 underscores the value of the relevance of multilateralism. It recognizes that the challenges that we face can only be resolved through cooperation, collaboration and partnership,” Ramaphosa said.
The G20 comprises 19 countries plus the European Union and the African Union, and accounts for 85 percent of the world’s GDP and two-thirds of its population.
- ‘Just’ peace in Ukraine -
The Johannesburg summit was undermined by the American boycott, and China’s Li stood in for an absent President Xi Jinping, while Russia sent a Kremlin official, Maxim Oreshkin, instead of President Vladimir Putin, who is wanted under an International Criminal Court warrant.
The leaders present adopted a G20 summit declaration early in their meeting that covered climate, energy, debt sustainability and a critical-minerals pact — along with a joint call for a “just” peace in Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and the “Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
Argentina’s Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno — standing in for absent President Javier Milei, a Trump ally — objected to “how certain geopolitical issues are framed in the document,” specifically the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
But Ramaphosa said that did not block the declaration’s adoption by the participants, who also included Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
As soon as the opening ceremony was over, Starmer, Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz rushed into a meeting to discuss Trump’s plan for Ukraine, and were soon joined by other leaders from Europe, Australia, Canada and Japan, an EU official said.
After the meeting all of them, except Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, issued a statement calling the US plan a “draft” with some “important elements” but that it “will require additional work.”
“Borders must not be changed by force,” they said, adding they were “also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack.”
European Council President Antonio Costa said on X the leaders of all 27 EU nations would hold a follow-up meeting on Monday, on the sidelines of a European Union-African Union summit in Angola.
Several sources at the G20 summit, speaking on condition of anonymity, said security officials from Britain, France and Germany would meet US counterparts on Sunday in Switzerland, where US-Ukraine talks were to be held.
Trump has said he wants Kyiv to accept his 28-point proposals — which involve ceding territory to Russia and cutting the size of Ukraine’s military — by Thursday.
- Next G20 summit in US -
While the United States skipped the Johannesburg summit because it said it viewed its priorities — including on trade and on climate — as running counter to its policies, it still intended to take up the G20 baton for the next gathering.
Trump plans to stage that summit in 2026 at a Florida golf club he owns.
Washington has said it will send the US charge d’affaires from its embassy in South Africa only for the handover ceremony on Sunday.
