G20 summit falters
Divisions among the world’s leading economies emerged from the moment their leaders gathered in Argentina: United States President Donald Trump struck his own deals and angered allies, and the leaders of Russia and Saudi Arabia bonded amid criticism from European powers.
US negotiators blocked progress at the Group of 20 summit on managing migration, slowing climate change, and streamlining how world trade is governed, according to European officials involved in the discussions.
Security concerns also weighed on the two-day talks in Buenos Aires. Argentina’s security minister said eight petrol bombs were discovered several kilometres from the summit venue, where a protest in the afternoon drew thousands of demonstrators.
Trump sought to use the summit to make his own trade deals, and angered his Argentine hosts by misconstruing their position on China’s trade practices.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bonded with a tough-guy hand grab as the leaders sat down around a large round table for talks.
Argentine President Mauricio Macri kicked off the summit by acknowledging divisions within the G20 while urging world leaders to have a ‘‘sense of urgency’’ and take actions ‘‘based on shared interests’’.
Despite Trump’s dismissal of concerns about global warming, China, France and the United Nations came together yesterday to pledge their support for the Paris climate accord.
Overall, the G20 summit is meant to focus on issues such as labour, infrastructure, development, financial stability, climate sustainability and international commerce. But as the gathering got under way, those themes seemed like afterthoughts, overshadowed by contentious matters from the US-China trade dispute to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Russia and Ukraine have traded blame over last weekend’s seizure of Ukrainian ships and their crew, which Trump cited in cancelling a much-awaited meeting with Putin at the G20 summit. European Council President Donald Tusk said the European Union was expected to extend sanctions on Moscow.
Also looming large amid dozens of bilateral meetings in Buenos Aires was the gruesome slaying of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate and how the Saudi crown prince, who is alleged to have ordered the killing, was received by world leaders.
As soon as he arrived, bin Salman was confronted by French President Emmanuel Macron, who pressed him on the Khashoggi investigation and the Saudi-backed war in Yemen.
The leaders of the US, Canada and Mexico, meanwhile, met in the morning to sign a trade deal replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was struck following months of tough negotiations that analysts say left a bitter taste.
Trump called the pact a ‘‘model agreement that changes the trade landscape forever’’. It must still be ratified by lawmakers in all three countries, and passage in the US could face a tough road in the House of Representatives after Democrats won a majority in November midterm elections.
While Trump cancelled his meeting with Putin, he was still scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but analysts were not optimistic about prospects for a major breakthrough on the two countries’ trade disputes a month before US tariffs on Chinese goods are set to ramp up.