Anthony Albanese will meet China’s Xi Jinping at the G20 leaders summit
Anthony Albanese will urge world leaders to end the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East he says are driving hardship as the PM prepares to meet with China’s Xi Jinping at the G20.
National
Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Anthony Albanese will urge world leaders to strengthen efforts to end the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East he says are driving poverty, food shortages and high inflation, as the Prime Minister prepares to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping at the G20 in Brazil.
Speaking at a session about hunger and poverty on the first day of the Rio de Janeiro summit of leaders from the 20 biggest economies on Tuesday morning Australian time, Mr Albanese will argue in times of “global turmoil” it is “always those who have the least who are hurt the most”.
“We see that in the shocking loss of innocent life in the Middle East,” he will say.
“We see it in the ongoing toll that Russia’s invasion is taking on the brave people of Ukraine.”
Mr Albanese will say the G20 is “another vital opportunity” for the international community to “call for a de-escalation of the violence in the Middle East” and “condemn the illegal and immoral actions” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He will also condemn North Korea, which he says is now committing troops to the Ukraine war “while its own people starve.”
Mr Albanese will urge leaders not to “lose sight” of the impact of big geopolitical and global economic challenges on citizens and their “daily lives”.
The PM is also confirmed to be meeting with Mr Xi on the sidelines of the G20, which would be the third formal talks between the pair since Mr Albanese took office.
Mr Albanese arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night local time ahead of the summit, which his final international leaders gathering before a federal election is due by May.
He attended a Sunday mass at the Cathedral Metropolitana de São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro with fiancee Jodie Haydon, who has travelled alongside the PM to South America for the leaders’ summits.
Mr Albanese’s meeting with Mr Xi comes days after Beijing’s state-owned newspaper China Daily published a highly flattering editorial celebrating the PM as the ideal figure for other countries to emulate amid the “complexity and uncertainty” sparked by Donald Trump’s recent US presidential election win.
Mr Albanese said last week his government had “not changed our position on any of the key differences that we have” with China, but had worked to rebuild trade relations in the interests of Australia’s economic prosperity and local job creation.
During the G20, Mr Albanese will also have one-on-one meetings with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
The Brazil summit follows Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders meeting hosted by Peru over the weekend.
Mr Xi met with US President Joe Biden earlier on Saturday in Lima on the sidelines of APEC, discussing cyber crime, trade, Taiwan, the South China Sea and Russia.
But the economic summit and the upcoming G20 have been largely overshadowed by Mr Trump, with focus instead on the incoming US President’s planned appointments announced in recent days.
BIDEN’S HISTORIC TRIP TO AMAZON
Mr Biden became the first sitting American president to visit the Amazon rainforest, accompanied by Carlos Nobre, a Nobel-Prize winning scientist and the President’s climate adviser John Podesta.
After an aerial tour to view the ecosystems and deforestation on Sunday local time, Mr Biden said the fight against climate change had been a defining cause of his presidency and he was proud to visit the region.
“It’s no secret that I’m leaving office in January. I will leave my successor and my country a strong foundation to build on if they choose to do so,” Mr Biden said during his visit.
The massive Amazon regions, which is about the size of Australia, stores huge amounts of the world’s carbon dioxide, but development is rapidly depleting the rainforest.
Climate is expected to be a major focus of talks among world leaders at the G20 as many seek to either shore up progress on the issue or exploit a likely scaling back of commitments from the US under Mr Trump.
More Coverage
Originally published as Anthony Albanese will meet China’s Xi Jinping at the G20 leaders summit
Read related topics:Anthony Albanese
Join the conversation
PM wants proof of Oscar’s life: ‘We don’t take Putin at face value’
PM Anthony Albanese has called on Moscow to provide proof to back assurances Australian prisoner of war Oscar Jenkins is alive and in custody.
Read more
Woman to fight alleged drug death case
A woman accused of manslaughter months after a man died from a suspected “adverse” drug reaction has revealed plans to fight the allegations, a court has been told.
Read more