G20: Trump and Putin shake on it but hostilities linger

Echoes of Cold War hostilities between the US, China and Russia have shadowed the first day of the G20 summit.

Donald Trump shakes hands with Vladimir Putin.

Echoes of Cold War hostilities ­between the US, China and Russia have shadowed the first day of the G20 summit in Hamburg, with a critical meeting overnight of world leaders expected to splinter over North Korean belligerence, trade protectionism and climate change.

Tensions were high on the streets of the German port city, prompting police to order a lockdown of the hotel where ­Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Russian President Vladimir Putin were staying, as protesters sought to storm the building before being deterred by a wall of security.

On a day dominated by the first meeting of US President Donald Trump and Mr Putin, discussions focused on the deteriorating ­global security environment and a ­potential trade war between the US and China. The potential for conflict on the Korean peninsula, terrorism and trade issues also led discussions between Mr Turnbull and Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who met before the leaders’ retreat.

In an extended hour-long meeting, Mr Turnbull and Mr Joko agreed to a joint position on North Korean belligerence over its missile tests, urging key G20 nations, namely China and the US, to find a solution.

US President Donald Trump with Malcolm Turnbull. Picture: Kym Smith

Mr Turnbull, who chatted to Mr Trump as leaders made their way into a room for the G20 “family photo”, earlier rejected ­demands from China and Russia that the US “de-escalate its military exercises in the waters off the peninsula”.

“The actions by the North ­Korean regime have not been provoked, they are not justified, they are illegal and they have been universally condemned,” the Prime Minister said. He repeated Australia’s position that China had the greatest responsibility in forcing North Korea to de-arm.

“This is a reckless path of provocation and escalation which North Korea must cease and we call on all the nations with leverage — and China has the most and that is a fact,” Mr Turnbull said.

“That is just a fact of life, fact of geography and history — it has the greatest leverage and therefore the greatest responsibility.” Mr Turnbull and Mr Joko ­reiterated that the US needed to maintain a presence in the region to check China’s military build-up in the South China Sea.

Officials said terrorism was a “significant focus of discussion”, with agreement between the two countries on a sharing of resources to tackle the issues of returning foreign fighters, rising terrorist ­activity in The Philippines, terror financing and ­regional threats from Islamic State.

Later, Mr Turnbull told the closed door leaders’ retreat that he had experience as a commercial internet founder and believed that online terrorism must be elevated to a key national security issue for G20 countries.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel with Mr Trump. Picture: Reuters

He warned that social media companies needed to take greater responsibility for terrorists using the “dark web” to conceal their ­recruitment activities.

He used Australia as a model of sophisticated intelligence which had prevented 12 planned domestic attacks and said a solution needed to be found that allowed agencies to track terrorists through the web while protecting values of freedom.

“You have got to find a way to ensure that these wonderful platforms are not used as dark places for criminals and terrorists to hide where they cannot be found by all of us, whose first duty above everything else is to keep our citizens safe,” Mr Turnbull said.

The Prime Minister and Mr Joko also agreed on finalising a free-trade agreement between Australia and ­Indonesia, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, by the end of this year.

“We have so many things in common and we are working to complete the (agreement) by the end of the year,” Mr Turnbull said in a social media video posted after the meeting.

Mr Joko was confident the deal could be struck by year’s end.

Shortly after Mr Turnbull left Hamburg’s Park Hyatt hotel, the surrounding streets were locked down by riot police as “Welcome to Hell” anarchist protesters tried to gain access to the entrance of the hotel. The protests prevented US first lady Melania Trump from attending a spouses gathering across the city, leaving her stuck inside her guesthouse.

In other parts of the city, police cars were set alight and streets dedicated for official motorcades blocked as security police were forced to use teargas and water cannons to push back protesters armed with petrol bombs.