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JOHANNESBURG —The two-day Group of 20 foreign ministers meeting wrapped up in Johannesburg on Friday. Aimed at addressing global problems, the talks between the world's wealthiest countries instead underscored the fault lines in the current geopolitical climate.
Despite the warm welcome foreign dignitaries received at the meeting in Johannesburg, hosted by current G20 president South Africa, tensions were apparent before the event even got underway.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced earlier this month he was boycotting the meeting, citing what he called the "anti-Americanism" on the agenda. These topics included climate change and equality for developing nations.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the discord head on in his opening speech, saying the world was under threat from rising intolerance and wars.
"Yet there is a lack of consensus among major powers, including the G20, on how to respond to these issues of global significance," Ramaphosa said.
Even a planned group photo fell through, though no official explanation was given for its last-minute cancellation.
Steven Gruzd, an analyst at the South African Institute of International Affairs, spoke about the challenges the meeting presented.
"South Africa's had a very difficult job of getting countries that are ideologically very far apart around the same table," he said.
South Africa has been under fire from the new U.S. administration, which accuses the government of land grabs, an accusation South Africa strongly denies. President Donald Trump recently cut financial assistance to the country over the allegations.
Washington sent U.S. Embassy Charge d'Affaires Dana Brown in Rubio's place. The embassy declined VOA's request for an interview.
But there were statements of support for South Africa leading the G20 from several European foreign ministers.
Russia and China also sent their top envoys.
In his remarks at the meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed his support for South Africa's G20 presidency.
He also noted that, "the current international landscape is marked by transformation and turbulence." He added, China will "work with all parties" on world peace, security and multilateralism.
One topic that dominated at the meeting was Ukraine. The foreign ministers gathered days after Trump upended U.S. policy on the war, suggesting Ukraine was to blame for Russia's 2022 invasion and labeling one-time U.S. ally Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a "dictator."
Retired U.S. diplomat Brooks Spector said, "Now that President Trump has effectively ended the general Western consensus on Ukraine, it's obviously fallen to the European nations to be the primary source of support for Ukraine and its president and in fact its struggle against Russia."
The E.U. has indeed rallied in support of Zelenskyy after Trump's comments. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, voiced his concerns.
"A capitulation of Ukraine today would set a terrible example for every country in the world that would be under the threat of predation by its bigger neighbor," he said. "Is this the world in which we want to live?"
However, in his closing remarks South African foreign minister Ronald Lamola put a positive spin on things, saying the meeting had been an overall success and delegates had held "productive" talks.