Leaders are arriving in Rio for the annual gathering of the world’s most powerful economies.
The Brazilian hosts want to talk about plans to tackle poverty and hunger, boost climate finance and reform international institutions. Yet diplomats now expect the war in Ukraine to dominate more discussions in the margins of this gathering.
All eyes will be on how Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, responds – he is coming to Rio de Janeiro instead of President Putin, who faces the risk of arrest on behalf of the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
The Brazilians may dust off their six-point plan for peace that they are pushing along with China.
The complication is that this summit is taking place as the world is in a holding pattern, awaiting the arrival of Donald Trump in January.
The US President-elect is expected to push hard for some kind of political settlement in Ukraine. And the fear among diplomats is that fighting may escalate in the short term as both sides try to improve their positions before any kind of ceasefire.
Once again Ukraine is likely to overshadow another international summit, something that may test the patience of countries which want to talk about other issues such as the climate crisis and global economic reform.
James Landale
Image source, Reuters
