Albanese confirms Xi meeting as he pushes G20 for tough talk on Ukraine, Middle East
By David Crowe
Rio de Janeiro: Australia is pushing for G20 leaders to confront the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East during a global summit in the next two days, warning about the loss of innocent lives and damage to the world from the growing conflicts.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will push for the tougher stance on the two wars in his remarks to the summit in Brazil on Monday as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says Ukraine should be “top of the agenda” at the talks.
Anthony Albanese arrives in Rio for the G20.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The moves come as Albanese prepares for a formal meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday to shore up economic ties and manage differences over the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine pact with the United States and United Kingdom.
The bilateral meeting with Xi will be the prime minister’s third with the Chinese leader, including their talks in Beijing last year when China eased some of its restrictions on Australian goods.
Albanese arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night, local time, after attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in the Peruvian capital of Lima on Friday and Saturday.
There were no formal G20 functions on Sunday and the prime minister and his partner, Jodie Haydon, went to Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian in the morning.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his partner, Jodie Haydon, take their seats ahead of a service at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian, in Rio de Janeiro, on Sunday. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
While the invasion of Ukraine has split the G20 in the past two years, Western leaders are expressing growing concern about the war after the arrival of thousands of North Korean troops in Russia in recent weeks, with some deployed to the front line against Ukraine.
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres, who is in Rio for the summit, said “we must step up for peace” in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine and Sudan.
United States President Joe Biden made a dramatic move to give Ukraine more firepower against Russia before the start of a new US administration under president-elect Donald Trump, authorising use of long-distance missiles supplied by the US to hit Russian soil.
The Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, can hit targets up to 300 kilometres away and is expected to be used by Ukrainian forces against Russian and North Korean troops in Kursk, a part of Russia where some territory is held by Ukraine.
An Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) weapon is fired during a joint training between the United States and South Korea, on October 05, 2022 at an undisclosed location.Credit: South Korean Defence Ministry
Albanese will link the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East to the broader purpose of the G20, which was set up by the world’s largest economies during the global financial crisis so they could co-ordinate policy and boost growth.
“The hard truth is that in times of global turmoil, it is always those who have the least, who are hurt the most,” he says in draft extracts from a formal intervention he will make during one of the first sessions of the summit on Monday.
“We see that in the shocking loss of innocent life in the Middle East.
“We see it in the ongoing toll that Russia’s invasion is taking on the brave people of Ukraine.
“The G20 is another vital opportunity for the international community to call for a de-escalation of the violence in the Middle East.
“And to condemn the illegal and immoral actions of Russia and indeed North Korea which is now committing troops to the invasion of a sovereign nation while its own people starve.”
His draft comments do not lay blame for the conflict in the Middle East and do not single out Israel, Gaza or Lebanon. His call for a statement about the Middle East and a condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine requires the G20 to take a more assertive position on the wars than it did last year.
The summit ended in New Delhi last year with no mention of the Hamas attack on Israel or the subsequent Israeli attacks on Gaza, while the final communique expressed concern about the war in Ukraine but did not condemn Russia for its invasion.
The G20 comprises 19 nations as well as the European Union and its membership includes the United States, China, Russia, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia and Australia.
Starmer has signalled his concern about Ukraine ahead of this year’s G20 summit, after news emerged that thousands of North Korean troops had been deployed to fight against Ukraine in return for security and commercial agreements with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I think on the one hand it shows the desperation of Russia, but it’s got serious implications for European security, that added additional element, and for Indo-Pacific security,” Starmer said on his way to the G20 summit.
“And that’s why I think we need to double-down on shoring up our support for Ukraine and that’s top of my agenda for the G20.”
Albanese and Starmer will have a bilateral meeting at the G20, weeks after they held talks at a Commonwealth meeting in Samoa. Albanese will also have a bilateral with the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who has promised continued support for Ukraine after a new wave of Russian missile strikes on the country.
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