JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -G20 envoys have agreed on a draft leaders’ declaration ahead of this weekend’s summit in Johannesburg without U.S. input, four sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated that it will boycott the summit over disagreements with the host nation, South Africa.
While fearing that a loss of participation from its most powerful member would scupper a declaration at the G20, some analysts still saw an opportunity for the South African hosts, determined to set an agenda for global leaders in the face of Trump’s hostility to multilateral diplomacy.
None of the sources divulged details of the declaration’s contents.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday that South Africa was in discussions with the United States over its possible participation in the summit after all, although the White House later denied this.
Trump rejected the host nation’s agenda for the November 22-23 summit of promoting solidarity and helping developing nations adapt to worse weather disasters, transition to clean energy and cut their excessive debt costs.
(Reporting by Alexander Winning, Tim Cocks, Nellie Peyton and Julia Payne; editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Heinrich)
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