South Africa has been preparing for a disappointing Group of 20 (G20) summit in Johannesburg this weekend that would be missing the leaders of the United States, China, Russia, Argentina, and Mexico — although President Cyril Ramaphosa claimed on Thursday that the U.S. might rescind its boycott and attend after all.
“We have received notice from the United States, a notice which we are still in discussions with them over about a change of mind, about participating in one shape, form or other in the summit,” Ramaphosa said at a press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa on Thursday.
Ramaphosa said these developments came at “the late hour before the summit begins,” so it would be necessary to “see how practical it is, and what it finally really means.”
“In a way we see this as a positive sign, very positive, because as I’ve often said, boycott politics never work,” he said.
“The United States being the biggest economy in the world, needs to be there, so it is pleasing there is a change of approach,” he added.
The South African Foreign Ministry claimed the United States was trying to force concessions by refusing to allow a final statement from the abbreviated summit to be issued in its absence.
“Washington’s absence negates its role over the G20’s conclusions. But we cannot allow coercion by absentia to become a viable tactic; it is a recipe for institutional paralysis and the breakdown of collective action,” South African Foreign Ministry spokesman Chrispin Phiri said.
The U.S. embassy had reportedly sent a note to Ramaphosa’s government stating that “South Africa’s G20 priorities run counter to U.S. policy views,” and the United States therefore opposed “issuance of any G20 summit outcome document under the premise of a consensus G20 position without US agreement.”
South Africa’s handling of the G20 summit, which included inserting ideological points to the agenda and inviting additional attendees, was criticized by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio – both of whom said they would not attend the meeting in Johannesburg.
“South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote ‘solidarity, equality, and sustainability.’ In other words: DEI and climate change,” Rubio said in February.
“My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism,” he said.
President Trump was even more dismissive, saying in early November that South Africa should not even be a member of the G20 any longer. Trump has accused the South African government of abusing its white citizens and expropriating their farmland.
The White House on Thursday dismissed Ramaphosa’s claims of last-minute re-scheduling as “fake news” and said only the charge d’affaires in Pretoria would be attending the event – and then only at the end, to accept the ceremonial handoff to the United States as the next nation to hold the rotating presidency of the G20.
“The United States is not participating in official talks at the G20 in South Africa,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “I saw the South African president running his mouth a little bit against the United States and the president of the United States earlier today, and that language is not appreciated by the president or his team.”
A spokesman for Ramaphosa responded that the South African president was not willing to conduct the handover ceremony with a mere charge d’affairs. The United States has not had a formal ambassador to South Africa since January, when the Biden administration’s ambassador Reuben Brigety resigned.
Argentine President Javier Milei, a firm ally of Trump, is also skipping the G20 summit but will send his foreign minister Pablo Quirno instead.
The Kremlin announced in October that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not attend the summit, but would send a “high-level” representative. That usually means someone on the level of a foreign minister, but Putin wound up sending his economic adviser, Maxim Oreshkin.
Putin has not attended a G20 summit in person since 2019 and is often reluctant to attend international events because he faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity committed during his invasion of Ukraine. This caused problems for Putin in South Africa in the summer of 2023, when the BRICS summit was held in Johannesburg.
A few days after Trump said he would skip the G20 summit, Chinese dictator Xi Jinping also announced he would not attend, without giving a reason. Xi attended the 2024 G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. China is sending Premier Li Qiang to South Africa in Xi’s place.
The fifth big absence is President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, who announced she would not be attending on Thursday. Sheinbaum attended the G20 summit in Rio last year, but has infrequently traveled abroad since then.
Sheinbaum’s office has said little to explain why she is skipping the summit in South Africa, beyond stating that she preferred to attend “domestic events” over the weekend.
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