"Summit of Hope" Launches... World Leaders Gather in South Africa to Chart the Course for Peace

Arab Sea Newspaper - Special

Arab Sea - Follow-ups: The G20 summit of leading economies, held for the first time on the African continent, kicks off today, Saturday, in Johannesburg, South Africa, amid an American boycott and the absence of a number of world leaders. The summit is overshadowed by a discussion about the American peace plan in Ukraine. US President Donald Trump and Russian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping were among the leaders who canceled their participation in the summit. The presidents of Argentina and Mexico will also not attend. The Trump administration is boycotting the talks entirely because it accuses the South African government of severely repressing white farmers, an accusation South Africa rejects as baseless. The host of the summit, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, has focused its events on the themes of solidarity, equality and sustainability. His top priorities include easing the debt burden on emerging and developing countries, a just energy transition, fair and clean use of rare minerals, fair burden-sharing in climate protection and food security. On Friday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on G20 members to "use their influence and voices to end conflicts that are causing so much death, destruction and instability around the world."