AP, Argentina :
The Group of 20 summits enters its crucial second and final day Saturday with hours left for diplomats to bridge divisions on major issues including world trade, climate change and tackling migration.
The day will also see a highly anticipated meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose nations have been embroiled in an escalating trade war with new U.S. tariffs on China goods set to take effect a month from now.
The divisions among the world’s leading economies were evident from the moment Argentina’s president opened the summit Friday with a call for international cooperation to solve the planet’s problems.
Trump sought to use the gathering to make his own trade deals. Meanwhile, two men under heavy criticism from the West lately – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – appeared to seek refuge in each other, bonding with a tough-guy hand grab as the leaders sat down around a huge round table for talks.
Security concerns also weighed on the two-day talks in Buenos Aires. Argentina’s security minister said eight gasoline bombs were discovered in an area of the capital several miles from the summit venue where a protest in the afternoon drew thousands of demonstrators who held up banners with slogans like “Go away G-20” and “Go away Trump.”
Diplomats from the G-20 countries were haggling hard over a final joint statement, with disagreement over what language to use on the Paris climate accord and the World Trade Organization.
Two European officials involved in the discussions said the U.S. was stymieing progress on both.
So an unorthodox solution emerged: Because of resistance from the Trump administration, an official in the French president’s office said the statement may have language that sets the U.S. apart. For example, a draft says 19 of the participants agree on the importance of upholding the Paris climate accord, but the U.S. doesn’t.
The officials said the U.S. was also blocking any mention of migration in the final statement. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the closed-door discussions.
Asked about the European concerns, a U.S. official said progress was being made on the joint statement and the White House was “optimistic” about the document as a whole.
Laura Jaitman, the Argentine Treasury official shepherding the G-20’s financing talks, said leaders have made progress on finance and trade and was hopeful a joint statement would be possible.
“There’s a very positive message of how trade has been an engine of growth for the next decades and how it will continue in the future providing benefits for all citizens,” Jaitman said.
Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie said trade talks were moving forward and nations were continuing to work on climate change wording.
“All issues being discussed at the summit have the same relevance,” he told reporters. “We are debating (trade and climate change) more closely because we want to reach the consensus of all the countries involved.”
The Group of 20 summits enters its crucial second and final day Saturday with hours left for diplomats to bridge divisions on major issues including world trade, climate change and tackling migration.
The day will also see a highly anticipated meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose nations have been embroiled in an escalating trade war with new U.S. tariffs on China goods set to take effect a month from now.
The divisions among the world’s leading economies were evident from the moment Argentina’s president opened the summit Friday with a call for international cooperation to solve the planet’s problems.
Trump sought to use the gathering to make his own trade deals. Meanwhile, two men under heavy criticism from the West lately – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – appeared to seek refuge in each other, bonding with a tough-guy hand grab as the leaders sat down around a huge round table for talks.
Security concerns also weighed on the two-day talks in Buenos Aires. Argentina’s security minister said eight gasoline bombs were discovered in an area of the capital several miles from the summit venue where a protest in the afternoon drew thousands of demonstrators who held up banners with slogans like “Go away G-20” and “Go away Trump.”
Diplomats from the G-20 countries were haggling hard over a final joint statement, with disagreement over what language to use on the Paris climate accord and the World Trade Organization.
Two European officials involved in the discussions said the U.S. was stymieing progress on both.
So an unorthodox solution emerged: Because of resistance from the Trump administration, an official in the French president’s office said the statement may have language that sets the U.S. apart. For example, a draft says 19 of the participants agree on the importance of upholding the Paris climate accord, but the U.S. doesn’t.
The officials said the U.S. was also blocking any mention of migration in the final statement. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the closed-door discussions.
Asked about the European concerns, a U.S. official said progress was being made on the joint statement and the White House was “optimistic” about the document as a whole.
Laura Jaitman, the Argentine Treasury official shepherding the G-20’s financing talks, said leaders have made progress on finance and trade and was hopeful a joint statement would be possible.
“There’s a very positive message of how trade has been an engine of growth for the next decades and how it will continue in the future providing benefits for all citizens,” Jaitman said.
Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie said trade talks were moving forward and nations were continuing to work on climate change wording.
“All issues being discussed at the summit have the same relevance,” he told reporters. “We are debating (trade and climate change) more closely because we want to reach the consensus of all the countries involved.”
