1 day Ago By David Crowe
Rio de Janeiro: A sudden end to the G20 leaders’ summit has left observers wondering what the meeting achieved, after host country Brazil cancelled the key event meant to sum up its results. Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva cancelled the final press conference two hours after it was due to begin, amid doubts about outcomes on climate change and global hunger. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (front, second from right) at the final G20 photocall.
Credit: Alex Ellinghausen The summit ended without solutions to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, highlighting the gulf between the major powers in their last meeting before Donald Trump takes office as United States president. “This G20 summit will go down in the history books,” one official told the Bloomberg news service. “But definitely not as a shining example.
” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese left the host city of Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday afternoon, local time, in the hope of returning to Canberra on Thursday — after losing a day due to travel — so he can attend question time in parliament. Loading Albanese said his meetings at the G20 and the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit had produced results for Australia, amid regular media criticism of prime ministers for travelling overseas. But Albanese emphasised his face-to-face talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer rather than the summit sessions with leaders speaking as a group.
Xi used his meeting with Albanese to talk up the “turnaround” in China’s relations with Australia, amid estimates the improvement has restored $20 billion in annual Australian exports..
