Johannesburg (AP) – Foreign and diplomatic ministers from rich countries and in development focused on global conflicts, mainly on the war between Russia and Ukraine, on Friday, the last day of their meeting in South Africa.
The two -day meeting in Johannesburg of the group of 20 was marked by the absence of a high level delegation in the United States.
South Africa – the first African country to assume the presidency of the G20 – has tried to reduce importance to this, stating that it was not “a disaster” and that crucial deliberations continued in the presence of the United States interim ambassador, Dana Brown.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the meeting was aimed at “starting a serious dialogue” in a context of wars ongoing, climate change and energy and food insecurity.
The United States is expected to assume the presidency of the G20 after South Africa next year.
After the conclusion of the meeting, the Foreign Minister of South Africa, Ronald Lamola, told journalists that conflicts and wars in Africa, the Middle East and Europe are braking economic development.
“The meeting reiterated that all states must act in a coherent way with the peoples and principles of the UN Chart Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the conflicts in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among others.
Lamola confirmed that President Ramaphosa has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to a state visit. The two leaders had previously met outside several global forums.
Lamola openly defended the right of Ukraine to have a seat on the table at any peace negotiation to end the war.
“We still think that any peace negotiation process must be inclusive and that this inclusiveness must include Ukraine very clearly. And that is the approach we will continue to adopt, ”he said.
There were very different statements: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in his Thursday speech that Western countries are blame for the current war in Ukraine.
The main diplomat of the United Kingdom, David Lammy, said Russia apparently does not seek peace.
“I have to say that when I heard what the Russians and what Lavrov just said … I don’t see a real interest to reach that peace,” said Lammy.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that if Ukraine surrendered, that “would be a terrible example for each country in the world that would later be under the threat of predation by his largest neighbor.”
The UN representative of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Claver Gatete, said that global conflicts have implications for African countries, citing the increase in inflation and food prices in the continent since Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago three years ago .
“It doesn’t matter where the conflict is, it has an impact on Africa,” Gatete said.
South Africa will be the host of the G20 leaders summit in November of this year, a meeting that is expected to be attended by the heads of state of the G20.
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.
This article was published by Mogomotsi Magome,Michelle Gumede on 2025-02-21 15:07:00
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