The leaders of the world’s twenty industrialized nations are arriving to Argentina’s capital of Buenos Aires ahead of the upcoming G20 summit slated for November 30 – December 1.
The Leaders’ Summit comes amid escalation in the trade war between the United States and China, a naval incident between Ukraine and Russia and a growing pressure on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who is being suspected of ordering the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
On Thursday, however, Trump wrote on Twitter that he had decided to cancel the talks after receiving a full report on the naval incident in the Black Sea. Trump’s announcement came less than an hour after he told reporters before boarding a plane to Argentina that it was a “very good time” to meet with Putin.
Following the meeting with Macron, Putin is scheduled to attend a meeting with the leaders of BRICS, the association of five major emerging national economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.On Saturday, Putin will have a breakfast with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, followed by a round of talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. According to Ushakov, Putin and Abe will discuss the establishment of а mechanism for negotiations on the Kuril Islands.
The G20 summit is taking place amid mounting pressure from western countries to hold to account Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been widely suspected of being directly involved in the murder of Washington Post columnist Khashoggi on October 2.
The international advocacy group Human Rights Watch announced in a statement on Wednesday that an Argentine federal prosecutor had agreed to take up a case against the Saudi crown prince, who arrived in Buenos Aires on November 28.
Mohammed bin Salman is scheduled to attend the summit and hold a number of talks with world leaders, including the Russian president. According to the Kremlin, the two leaders will discuss Yemen and Syria developments during their meeting on Saturday.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that he is ready to meet with the Saudi crown prince on the sidelines of the G20 summit as part of his efforts to restart peace talks on Yemen.
However, US President Donald Trump has no plans to hold a bilateral meeting with bin Salman because his schedule “is full to overflowing,” National Security Advisor John Bolton said on Tuesday.
President Trump is expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on December 1 on the sidelines of the G20 summit as the trade war between the two countries enters a new stage.
Earlier this week, Trump said that he would slap tariffs on an additional $267 billion worth of Chinese imports if he fails to make a deal at a meeting with Xi in Buenos Aires. The US president has also said the trade deal “could happen.”China and the United States have been embroiled in a trade dispute since Trump unveiled new steel and aluminum import duties in March. Tensions escalated in May when the Trump administration announced that $50 billion worth of Chinese goods would be subject to 25 percent tariffs, prompting retaliation from Beijing. Since then, the Trump administration has imposed tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods with China responding by imposing reciprocal tariffs.