US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (back row, center) talks with Foreign Minister Johan Wadeplu (front row, center left, CDU) at the beginning of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
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Top diplomats from the group of 20 world economic powers ended two days of talks on Saturday without reaching agreement on several key global security issues, with disagreements over the war between Russia and Ukraine, among others, overshadowing the start of the Atlanta conference.
As a result, the group did not issue a joint communiqué and instead relied on a chairman’s statement summarizing the talks, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would release later Saturday.
“I’m not going to say today that we’re any closer to finding broadly acceptable solutions to these problems,” Rubio said at a news conference marking the end of the meeting.
“But I think there are countries in the G20 represented here that are working together to resolve some of the issues, particularly in the area of supply chains and critical minerals,” he said.
Rubio said the first day of the session was “very productive” and hosted sideline talks with his Australian, Indian and Japanese counterparts on Saturday before leading the final G20 event. Its discussions on supply chains considered freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, Black Sea and South China Sea.
“I’ve made it clear to our partners that secure supply chains are essential to growth,” Rubio said in a social media post about X. “Critical trade routes, including the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb, must remain secure and open to commerce. And we must continue to strengthen and expand critical mineral supply chains to secure our future.”
At a reception for G20 participants Friday night, Rubio sounded optimistic. “Together, we are charting a vibrant, dynamic and bold economic future that will open new horizons for the entire world,” he said.
Traditional group photo canceled
Mr. Rubio began the talks on Friday with a appeal for unity, but then canceled the traditional group photo of foreign ministers. European diplomats opposed the inclusion of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and threatened to boycott or walk out of the snapshot.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, who represented his country as a guest for the first time at the G20 meeting, said he was not surprised that an agreement could not be reached.
“We’re at war and there are people sitting around the same table fighting the war, so it’s very difficult to agree on a common policy,” he told reporters.
Other participants at the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss private talks, said they all agreed to overcome their differences and work to make next month’s Group of 20 summit, hosted by President Donald Trump in Florida, a success despite the long battle.
The diplomats said issuing the chairman’s statement had been a long-standing plan because of deep disagreements among attendees over issues such as the Russia-Ukraine war, the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, U.S. tariffs and China’s actions in the South China Sea. All of this is contributing to rising global fuel costs and trade uncertainty.
They said the opening session was amicable, but said Russia’s position on Ukraine was non-negotiable, as was its opposition to Poland’s membership in the G20. They said the disagreements also included the Trump administration’s decision not to invite South Africa, a G20 member, despite the objections of others.
Russia’s presence upsets Europeans
Before the meeting began, some G20 countries had expressed concern that the United States had invited Russia in the midst of escalating its attacks on Ukraine, especially after President Trump pushed relations with Ukraine to a new low by lifting new sanctions against Russia and temporarily restricting logistics and intelligence support.
However, the State Department announced Friday that it had approved a $2.1 billion sale of Patriot air defense interceptors to Ukraine.
Lavrov said Russia would not tolerate a situation in which Ukraine poses a “military threat to the legitimate security interests of the Russian Federation.”
Lavrov’s visits to NATO countries have been rare since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which resulted in tough sanctions being imposed on Russia. It is unclear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will accept President Trump’s invitation to attend a summit at Trump’s Miami golf club in December.
Iran war is influencing this event
The possibility of new US military intervention against Iran also loomed over the G20 meeting. This has plunged the region, including G20 member Saudi Arabia, into a state of tension. Mr. Rubio met Friday with Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, whose country is the main mediator.
The Associated Press reported that U.S. officials have told several Middle Eastern countries and regional allies to prepare for the possibility of new military attacks against Iran and possible Iranian retaliation after Tuesday’s U.S. election.
