Hosted in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, the President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opened the conference by announcing a global alliance against hunger and poverty. The pledge was signed by 82 countries, including all G20 members except for Argentina. The statement can be found here.
US President Joe Biden missed the family photo, however, previous to arriving at the conference, he visited the Amazon Raid Forest where he pledged increased US bilateral aid on climate change. Missing in the group photo were also Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who were also present at the conference.
French President Emmanuel Macron seems to have an unlikely bromance with Argentina’s President Javier Milei with whom he discussed trade and defence issues. Argentina is currently donating its outdated French military hardware, including fighter jets, to Ukraine as it upgrades to newer equipment. Argentina is also in discussions with France to buy three attack-class submarines.
China’s President Xi Jinping was also present where he is expected to have held extensive discussions Brazil’s President on bilateral trade. China is the biggest trading partner of Brazil. Xi Jinping also held discussions with UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer. This was the first time that Xi Jinping held talks with a British Prime Minister since 2018. Prime Minister Starmer expressed concerns over the health of jailed Hong Kong dissident Jimmy Lai, which is deteriorating in prison. He also appealed to the Chinese President to enhance international cooperation on climate change and highlighted concerns about China’s actions in the South China Sea and its aggression against Taiwan.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with India’s Prime Minister Nerandra Modi who discussed issues such as defense and climate change but provided little details about the discussion.
Newly elected Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo met with several counterparts for the first time including with President Biden and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with whom she discussed border issues, immigration and trade. The newly elected Mexican President takes over a country largely run by Mexican-based international-drug cartels and has no plans to challenge their authority, but has pledged to increase funding for the police and social services in cartel-run regions and cities.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro was also present but declined to respond to a question about Venezuela. Petro, a strong critic of Israel who recently dismissed the Israeli ambassador from Bogotá, maintains close ties with Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorial regime in Venezuela.
Russia was absent at the conference with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin being unable to travel to Brazil due to the fact that he is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.
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