US Secretary Blinken and Russian FM Lavrov have arrived in Brazil to participate in the inaugural G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL (AFP/VOP) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Brazil Tuesday for a meeting of G20 foreign ministers also due to be attended by Russia’s Sergei Lavrov, AFP has observed.
Blinken will also meet with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is in the midst of a diplomatic spat with Israel after the Brazilian president compared the country’s offensive in Gaza to the Nazi Holocaust — statements Washington has rejected.
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Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State of the United States, is currently in Brazil for discussions scheduled for Wednesday with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Additionally, Blinken will convene with his counterparts from the Group of 20 during his visit.
“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.
No joint statement from the G20 regarding Gaza or Ukraine
More than four months after the Gaza war started with Hamas fighters’ unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which has vowed to wipe out the Islamist group in retaliation, there is little sign of progress toward peace.
A new UN Security Council resolution on a ceasefire was vetoed Tuesday by the United States, which said the text would endanger ongoing negotiations, including on the release of Hamas-held hostages.
The outlook is similarly downbeat on Russia’s war in Ukraine, which also has G20 members divided.
Despite a push from Western countries for the group to condemn President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, the G20’s last summit, held in New Delhi in September, ended with a watered-down 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 G20 stalemate, the G7 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.
The G20, comprising 19 countries including the G7, the European Union and the African Union, represents about 85% of global GDP, 75% of global trade and two-thirds of the global population.
The G7 comprises the world’s richest and most powerful countries.
Last week, G7 foreign ministers expressed outrage over the detention death of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny and pledged unwavering support to Ukraine as the two-year mark of Russia’s invasion approaches.
The G7 foreign ministers’ joint statement also advocated for “prolonged and durable pauses in the hostilities leading to a sustainable cease-fire” in Gaza while expressing “deep concern” over the “devastating” impact of Israel’s planned military operations in Rafah, where more than a million civilians are taking refuge.
Ramin Toloui, assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs, said the U.S. will underscore the damage caused by the “Kremlin’s war of aggression” and “encourage all G20 partners to redouble their calls for a just, peaceful and lasting end” to the war on Ukraine.
But Toloui said Brazil would not “attempt to mobilize a joint statement” during the upcoming G20 foreign ministers’ meetings.
The G20’s two-day event in Rio de Janeiro will commence tomorrow with the theme “Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet.” During the event, foreign ministers of the G20 will convene two main forums to deliberate on the organization’s role in resolving international conflicts and reforming global governance.