JOHANNESBURG (AP) — World leaders from the Group of 20 rich and developing economies broke with tradition and adopted a declaration at the start of their summit in South Africa on Saturday despite opposition from the United States, which is boycotting the two-day talks in a diplomatic rift with the host country.
Vincent Magwenya, the spokesman for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, said a leaders’ declaration was adopted unanimously by the other members at the start of the talks in Johannesburg. Declarations are usually adopted at the end of G20 summits.
The 122-point declaration urged more global action on issues that specifically affect poor countries, like climate-related disasters and sovereign debt levels, and was promoted by the host country as a victory for the first G20 summit to be held in Africa.
The summit has been overshadowed by the U.S. boycott ordered by President Donald Trump and the U.S. had put pressure on South Africa not to adopt a leaders’ declaration in the absence of an American delegation, South African officials said.
Comments that shouldn’t have been broadcast
South Africa’s summit had an ambitious agenda to make progress on solving some of the long-standing problems that have afflicted the developing world, and leaders and top government officials came together at an exhibition center near the township of Soweto, which was once home to Nelson Mandela.
Many of South Africa’s priorities, especially a focus on climate change and confronting global inequality, met resistance from the U.S. But as he opened the summit, Ramaphosa said that “consensus has emerged.”
Then, in comments to leaders that were apparently mistakenly broadcast during what was meant to be the start of closed-door discussions, Ramaphosa could be heard saying leaders would move “to adopt our declaration now.”
South Africa’s foreign minister walked over and whispered in Ramaphosa’s ear, and the South African leader said: “OK. I’m told that the cameras are still on. They should be off.”
While Ramaphosa’s spokesperson said the declaration was unanimous, Argentina said it did not endorse it. Argentine President Javier Milei also did not attend the summit in solidarity with ally Trump, and the country was represented by Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno.
Meetings on Ukraine
Leaders and officials from France, Germany, the U.K., Canada and Japan held meetings over the proposed U.S. peace deal for the Russia-Ukraine war on the sidelines of the summit. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that representatives from the three European countries, the European Union, the United States and Ukraine would meet in Switzerland on Sunday for more talks.
The peace plan was drawn up by the Trump administration and Russia and gives in to many Russian demands that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected, including his country giving up large pieces of territory.
In a joint statement, the EU, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the U.K. said the proposed deal was “a basis which will require additional work,” and “borders must not be changed by force.”
South Africa’s G20 agenda
South Africa set the agenda for the summit as the country holding the rotating G20 presidency and wanted leaders to agree to more help for poor countries to recover from climate-fueled disasters, reduce their foreign debt burdens, transition to green energy sources and harness their own critical mineral wealth.
But the summit was without the world’s biggest economy after Trump boycotted over his claims that South Africa is violently persecuting its Afrikaner white minority. The Trump administration has also made clear its opposition to South Africa’s G20 agenda that focuses on climate change and inequality.
The monthslong rift between the U.S. and South Africa deepened in the buildup to the summit this weekend, but some of the leaders were eager to move on.
“I do regret it,” French President Emmanuel Macron said of Trump’s absence, “but it should not block us. Our duty is to be present, engage and work all together because we have so many challenges.”
The G20 is actually a group of 21 members that comprises 19 nations, the European Union and the African Union.
The bloc was formed in 1999 as a bridge between rich and poor nations to confront global financial crises. While it often operates in the shadow of the Group of Seven richest democracies, G20 members together represent around 85% of the world’s economy, 75% of international trade and more than half the global population.
It works on consensus rather than any binding resolutions, though, and that is often hard to come by with the different interests of members like the U.S., Russia, China and the Western European nations France, Germany and the U.K.
Doubts over a declaration
G20 declarations detail broad agreements reached by the members. South Africa said the U.S. was exerting pressure on it to tone down the final document to a unilateral statement from the host country.
Ramaphosa responded this week by saying “we will not be bullied.”
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The direction of the G20 bloc is likely to change sharply after the U.S. takes over the rotating presidency at the end of the summit. The only role the U.S. will play at this meeting will be when a representative from its embassy in South Africa attends the formal handover ceremony, the White House said.
South Africa said it’s an insult for Ramaphosa to hand over to a junior diplomatic official and a formal handover likely wouldn’t happen on Sunday.