Brussels 21.02.2025 Foreign ministers from the G20 leading economies have gathered in South Africa’s Johannesburg, amid geopolitical calamities, tensions over the Ukraine war, and political uncertainty in Europe ahead of German, and Romanian elections. (Image above: Johannesburg, SA)
The G20, a grouping of 19 countries as well as the European Union (EU) and the African Union that represent some 85 percent of global GDP and three-quarters of trade, is visibly fragmented on key issues from Russia’s war in Ukraine to climate change, and other issues, and causes promoted during previous U.S. administration.
South Africa, which currently holds the G20 presidency, opened the group’s first major meeting of the year on Thursday, February 20.
President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed G20 foreign ministers insisting that multilateralism and international law were key to solving world crises, while expressing concern about the deepening divisions of the G20 political choices.
Through the G20, let us set the coordinates of a new course for human progress, one that is founded on solidarity, equality and sustainability.
— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) February 20, 2025
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“It is critical that the principles of the UN Charter, multilateralism and international law should remain at the centre of all our endeavours. It should be the glue that keeps us together,” President Ramaphosa said in his opening remarks.
As we strive towards a common purpose, let us remember that cooperation is our greatest strength.
Let us seek to find common ground through constructive engagement.
https://t.co/b2idOhO7qN— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) February 20, 2025
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“Yet there is a lack of consensus among major powers, including in the G20, on how to respond to these issues of global significance” he underscored.
The United States did not attend after Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month rejected as “very bad” the previously agreed agenda of “diversity, equity and inclusion”.
Furthermore the U.S. President Donald Trump cut aid to South Africa amid the land ownership dispute, and the SA case against U.S. ally Israel at the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov did attend the meeting, alongside officials from the EU nations that have pledged continued support for Ukraine and condemned Russia’s aggression.
G20 diplomats were unable to work out a common position on the contrast policy shifts in Washington since Trump returned to power last month, including a plan to secure a deal with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over Ukraine.
This has generated concerns among European leaders and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has warned that Kyiv would not recognise any deal behind its back.
The HR/VP @kajakallas is currently in Johannesburg for the #G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
South Africa’s G20 Presidency marks a historic moment, as it is the first African country that holds the Presidency. #G20SouthAfrica
Read more: https://t.co/25xc4FO4Cd
— European External Action Service – EEAS 🇪🇺 (@eu_eeas) February 20, 2025
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Against this backdrop, Ramaphosa reminded the attendees “that cooperation is our greatest strength.” “Let us seek to find common ground through constructive engagement,” he said.
“As the G20, we must continue to advocate for diplomatic solutions to conflicts,” he added, including those “raging in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the Sudan, in the Sahel and in Gaza [that] continue to exact heavy human toll and heighten global insecurity.”
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