Foreign ministers from the Group of 20 leading economies are due to meet in Atlanta on Friday and Saturday for two days of talks, as the United States pushes for a focus on shipping routes, energy and food supplies — and as wars and trade disputes divide the room.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hosting and chairing the meeting on Friday and Saturday, October 30 and 31. The State Department says the United States, this year’s G20 president, wants to return the group to its core economic mission of growth and economic security.
The State Department says the ministers will tackle geopolitical crises behind global economic shocks — threats to freedom of navigation, energy and food security, and supply chains. U.S. officials say their top priority is freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, the Black Sea and the South China Sea, according to The Associated Press.
But there is little chance of agreement on the hardest questions. According to the AP, the disputes include the Russia-Ukraine war, the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, U.S. tariffs and China’s actions in the South China Sea — conflicts that have pushed up fuel costs and unsettled global trade.
Iran hangs over the meeting. The AP has reported that U.S. officials told several Middle East countries and allies to prepare for possible renewed U.S. strikes against Iran after Tuesday’s midterm elections, and for possible Iranian retaliation.
Russia is represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on a rare visit to a NATO country since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s foreign ministry said visa problems for its delegation were settled only at the last minute. Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said he would push for “swift reform of global economic institutions” and a “multipolar world.”
China sent a deputy foreign minister rather than Foreign Minister Wang Yi, though most other countries sent their top diplomats, U.S. officials say. Ukraine, invited to earlier G20 meetings, was not invited this year; U.S. officials said they chose to include only formal members. South Africa, which chaired the G20 last year, is also off the invite list amid several bitter disputes with the Trump administration, according to the AP.
Because the gaps are so wide, no joint statement is expected from Atlanta. A diplomatic source told AFP that the United States is expected to issue a chair’s summary instead — a document written by the host alone.
Friday’s schedule has a morning session on geopolitical issues and an afternoon session on energy and economic growth. Rubio also plans one-on-one meetings with Türkiye’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, plus a trilateral meeting with the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea and a signing ceremony for a Trilateral Arctic Pacific Partnership memorandum. The Quad foreign ministers — the United States, India, Japan and Australia — are also meeting on the sidelines.
The Atlanta talks set the stage for the leaders’ summit President Donald Trump will host on December 14 and 15 at Trump National Doral in Miami, in the United States’ 250th anniversary year. The G20’s 19 countries, plus the European Union and the African Union, account for about 85 percent of the world economy and three quarters of global trade.
