G-20 diplomats convene in Brazil amid thorny global crises
FOREIGN ministers from the G-20 met in Brazil yesterday, facing a daunting task: navigating international hot spots like the Gaza and Ukraine conflicts, as well as rising global polarization, with limited hope for significant breakthroughs.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are both expected in Rio de Janeiro for the first high-level G-20 meeting of the year – though not
China’s Wang Yi.
In a world torn by conflicts and divisions, Brazil, which took over the rotating G-20 presidency from India in December, has voiced hopes for what President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva calls “the forum with the greatest capacity to positively influence the international agenda.”
But Lula’s bid to make the G-20 a space for finding common ground suffered Sunday after the veteran leftist ignited a diplomatic firestorm by accusing Israel of “genocide” and comparing its military campaign in the Gaza Strip to the Holocaust.
The comments drew outrage in Israel, which declared him “persona non grata,” and could overshadow any bid to de-escalate the conflict via the G-20.
“If Lula imagined he was going to propose peace resolutions on Israel or Ukraine, that just got swept off the table,” international relations specialist Igor Lucena told AFP.
The outlook is similarly downbeat on Russia’s war in Ukraine, which also has G-20 members divided.
Despite a push from Western countries for the group to condemn President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, the G-20’s last summit, held in New Delhi in September, ended with a watereddown statement that denounced the use of force but did not explicitly name Russia, which maintains friendly ties with fellow members like India and Brazil.
Underlining the G-20 stalemate, the G-7 group of top economies – Ukrainian allies Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – will hold its own virtual meeting on the war Saturday, the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
Held at a marina on the Rio waterfront, the G-20 meeting will open with a session on “addressing international tensions.”
The ministers were set to discuss global governance reform today – a favorite issue for Brazil, which wants a greater voice for the global south at institutions like the U.N., IMF and World Bank.
“The number and gravity of conflicts has returned to the level of the Cold War. That brings new urgency to the issue,” said Brazil’s top diplomat for G-20 political negotiations, Mauricio Lyrio.
“We need to adapt the international system to prevent new conflicts,” he told journalists Tuesday. “Now, we’re just putting out fires.”
Brazil also wants to use its G-20 presidency to push the fight against poverty and climate change.