Brazil to invite Putin and Xi to upcoming G20 summit in 2024

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
11 Sep 2023 14:23

Brazilian President Lula Inacio da Silva hopes to discuss the permanent membership of Brazil in the upcoming G20 summit to be held in Rio de Janeiro in 2024.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva makes a heart sign during a military parade on Independence Day in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023 (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

The next G20 summit set to take place in Brazil in 2024 will include Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, said Brazilian President Lula Inacio da Silva on Friday.

At the end of the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, earlier this month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the next G20 will be held in Brazil, transferring the responsibility to da Silva.

Brazilian President then confirmed that the next forum will be held on November 18 & 19 of the upcoming year in Rio de Janeiro.

Da Silva then announced that he "will invite them [Xi and Putin] and hope that they will come to Brazil and participate in the summit," explaining that he was unaware of the reasons why the two presidents were not present in New Delhi and reaffirmed that he had hoped that by 2024 the war in Ukraine would have ended and things would have returned "back to normal".

Da Silva underscored that he had outlined discussion topics for the upcoming forum and highlighted that "we will put inequality at the top: inequality of gender, race, education, health, poverty, and hunger. The world needs balance," adding that energy transition and reform of multilateral institutions were also on the list of topics.

Significantly, the Brazilian President also noted that Brazil would like to discuss the possibility of becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Divisions over Ukraine, climate are the highlight of G20 Summit

At the New Delhi Summit Declaration this past Saturday, the G20 leaders released a statement with different views on the war in Ukraine, but they jointly called for respect for the UN Charter.

Leaders of the G20, the world's biggest economies, stressed that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be abided by, especially regarding the war, noting that the G20 is not the platform to "resolve geopolitical and security issues."

"In line with the UN Charter, all states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state," the declaration read, adding that "today's era must not be of war."

Meanwhile, the leaders of G20 nations said they are against using nuclear weapons or respective threats, according to a final declaration of the New Delhi summit of the group.

"The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible," the document read.

Simultaneously, a reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was urged "to improve all its functions through an inclusive member-driven process" and create "a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system accessible to all members by 2024."

A report by CNN, published on Friday, pointed out how Chinese President Xi Jinping's no-show at the G20 summit, which marks his first absence since becoming President, is raising concerns among Western leaders that China is transmitting a clear message about its ambitions to reshape global governance. His decision to skip this year's summit has been met with speculation, but no official explanation has been made.