On February 21, the Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Group of 20 (G20) leading developed and emerging economies took place in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), discussing world conflicts, global governance and ways to reform multilateral organizations.
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| The G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting took place on February 21-22 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Source: AFP) |
The two-day meeting, which began on February 21, will include a report assessing the global situation and ongoing conflicts, including fighting in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. The February 22 session will focus on global governance.
This will also be the first time US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov have met face to face since last year's G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi, India.
The meeting is also a preparation for the annual G20 Summit hosted by Brazil, scheduled to take place in November.
Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva has said the G20's top priority in 2024 is global governance reform, along with climate change mitigation and poverty reduction.
However, with conflicts continuing in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, diplomats are not optimistic that G20 members will easily agree on proposals to improve global governance.
Brazilian diplomat Mauricio Lyrio said the world is witnessing an unprecedented expansion of conflicts and a lack of governance to respond to global challenges. He saw a common spirit of support for UN reform, with Brazil supporting the expansion of the UN Security Council.
Meanwhile, a European diplomatic official said that this meeting is a preparatory session for possible multilateral reforms and to analyze and resolve problems.
According to Brazil's G20 website, this year's Foreign Ministers' Meeting will discuss, among other things, "the situation in the Middle East and the conflict in Ukraine, which continue to raise global concerns about the humanitarian crisis as well as geopolitical and economic issues."
By including conflicts in the discussion, the agenda of this Conference has met with opposition from Russia.
Reuters quoted a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry on February 21 saying that "it is unacceptable to attempt to politicize the G20", a group whose mission is to focus on socio-economic challenges, by putting "non-core" issues, including the Ukraine conflict, on the agenda.
Sharing the same view with Russia, on the same day, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning stated that the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting "is an important forum for international economic cooperation, it is not a place to resolve geopolitical and security issues."
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