Foreign ministers’ meeting marks start of ministerial conferences under Brazilian presidency
19/02/2024
The Brazilian presidency of the G20 begins this week with ministerial meetings, the most important moment before the heads of state’s summit scheduled for November. On Wednesday and Thursday, Rio de Janeiro’s Marina da Glória will host the foreign ministers of the world’s largest economies. Next week, São Paulo will host a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors.
As Valor reported in January, the main topics on the foreign ministers’ agenda will be international conflicts, such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and the reform of global governance, which is one of the three priorities of Brazil’s G20 presidency. The other two axes throughout the year are the fights against hunger, inequality, and climate change.
President Lula, who was in Africa last week, delivered a message on the two key aspects of this week’s meeting in Rio. “There must be a new geopolitics at the UN. The veto power of countries must be abolished, and the members of the Security Council must be pacifist actors, not war-mongering actors,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have confirmed their presence in Rio. Relations between the United States and Russia, which have been strained by the war in Ukraine, which turns two years on Saturday, were further inflamed last week by the death of Vladimir Putin’s main opponent, Alexei Navalny, in an Arctic Circle jail. U.S. President Joe Biden said there was “no doubt” about Mr. Putin’s responsibility in the episode.
In Rio, Mr. Lavrov will hold a meeting with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. Along with the representatives of France, Spain, Indonesia, and Mexico, the Russian is considered one of the “most likely” on the Brazilian minister’s list of bilateral appointments, according to Itamaraty sources.
Mr. Blinken, meanwhile, will visit Mr. Lula in Brasília before landing in Rio, where, according to the U.S. government, he will discuss the partnership “for workers’ rights, cooperation in the transition to clean energy, and the celebration of the bicentennial of diplomatic relations between Brazil and the United States.”
Only four countries will not send their top diplomat. China—second only to the U.S. in terms of GDP—will not send Wang Yi, who was in Brazil a few weeks ago on a schedule with Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. India’s Foreign minister, in turn, will participate in the Raisina Dialogue—a local conference on geopolitics. Italy and Australia, countries where domestic politics have taken over the ministers’ agenda, are not sending a foreign minister or equivalent.
The logistics of the two-day meeting in Rio is complex. A hotel in Copacabana will be closed to accommodate 11 of the approximately 40 delegations. In addition to the official members of the group, countries, and international organizations have been invited, such as the members of Mercosur and the UN’s Unesco and FAO.
At Marina da Glória, where the ministers will meet, eight bilateral conference rooms have been set up, as well as a chamber for diplomatic delegates to follow the video talks, and a press area for up to 400 media professionals. Part of the material used in the construction will be donated to Rio’s public schools after the event. The bilateral meetings will also take place downtown at the Itamaraty Palace, which was the headquarters of the Foreign Affairs Ministry between 1899 and 1970 until it was transferred to the new capital Brasília.
Another important meeting on Thursday will be the Ibas (India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum). These countries are part of the BRICS and will take turns chairing the G20: the Indians last year, the Brazilians this year, and the South Africans after Brazil.
As is customary at G20 ministerial meetings, there will be no document issued in Rio with the guidelines resulting from the talks. The tendency is for Mauro Vieira to make a statement at the end. Against the backdrop of global turbulence, especially with Russia, there will also be no official photo of the foreign ministers at the end of the meetings.
The mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, and Mauro Vieira will host a dinner for the foreign ministers at the Palácio da Cidade, the city hall, on Wednesday. In terms of security, in addition to the Federal Police, there will be 200 Federal Highway Police escorts and a special Military Police program “that will extend to the neighborhoods of Copacabana, Botafogo, and Glória, as well as the main access routes to the venue,” according to the state government.
*Por Caio Sartori — Rio de Janeiro
Source: Valor International