Negotiations on the G20 leaders summit declaration have taken another turn, with the US considering whether to reverse its earlier decision to skip the weekend event, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Washington has yet to finalise who will represent President Donald Trump should the US attend, but officials told Business Day the administration is considering whether to send a senior official from Washington or dispatch Marc Dillard, the US embassy’s chargé d’affaires in Pretoria and a member of that country’s Senior Foreign Service.
Trump had previously announced the US would boycott the gathering, creating uncertainty around the endorsement of any final communiqué.
“We have received notice from the US regarding participating in one shape or form at the summit. The discussion comes at the next hour before the summit, and so therefore we need to engage in those types of discussions to see how practical it is. In a way, we see this as a positive sign,” Ramaphosa said on the sidelines of the SA-EU bilateral meeting on Thursday.
“The US has a right to be here, and all we will be seeking to do is to look at the logistics to participate. They have a seat at the round table.”
The US has a right to be here, and all we will be seeking to do is to look at the logistics to participate. They have a seat at the round table.
— Cyril Ramaphosa
G20 negotiators are racing to salvage a leaders’ declaration as divisions over geopolitics, debt sustainability and global governance have left talks in serious jeopardy, according to people familiar with the discussions.
The US had earlier warned Pretoria not to make a G20 declaration without its presence at the leaders’ summit.
G20 sherpas have been meeting virtually and in person since Sunday, but diplomats said a final decision from the US remains elusive. South African officials from the presidency and the department of international relations & co-operation, who spoke to Business Day on condition of anonymity, said that “sufficient consensus” is still within reach but conceded that negotiations will continue right until leaders arrive.
China, India and Russia are pushing back on multiple sections of the draft declaration seen by Business Day. The most difficult sticking point remains the language on the war in Ukraine and broader geopolitical conflicts, an issue that has derailed previous G20 declarations and forced several host nations to opt for weaker chair summaries or outcome documents instead.
Pretoria insists it will not be pressured into watering down its priorities, with Ramaphosa publicly signalling that the summit will proceed on South Africa’s terms, despite geopolitical tensions.
“We will have a declaration. The talks are going extremely well. I am confident that we are moving towards the declaration,” he said. “They are now just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.
“Without the US the whole process of the G20 is moving forward … we will not be bullied. We will not agree to be bullied,” he said.
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