Rubio to skip G20 foreign ministers' meeting in South Africa over anti-Americanism

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday, February 6, that he will miss the meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of Twenty (G20) countries in Johannesburg because of South Africa's anti-American policy.

"I will not attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg. South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriates private property. Uses the G20 to promote 'solidarity, equality and sustainability,'" Rubio wrote on his X page.

He said his job is to advance America's national interests, not to "waste taxpayer money and indulge in anti-Americanism."

The G20 foreign ministers will meet on February 20-21. The meeting will be held for the fourth time in a row in a country friendly to Russia. In 2022 it was Indonesia, in 2023 - India, in 2024 - Brazil. As Svetlana Lukash, Russia's G20 Sherpa, emphasized at the end of last year, South Africa's priorities fully meet Russia's interests.

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The previous G20 summit was held on November 18-19 in the capital of Brazil and was dedicated to "building a just world and a sustainable planet." The Russian delegation was headed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

In the already adopted final declaration, the participants of the meeting welcomed all constructive initiatives to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. At the time, The New York Times wrote that the G20 heads of state did not pay attention to incumbent US President Joe Biden during the summit in Brazil.