G20 Diplomats End Atlanta Meeting With Statement Instead of Communique

Diplomats from the Group of 20 nations closed two days of meetings in Atlanta on Saturday without agreeing on a joint communique, a departure from the group's usual practice. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would instead release a chairman's statement summarizing the talks.

Rubio opened the session on Friday by calling for unity. He then canceled the traditional group photo of foreign ministers after European diplomats objected to the presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Several European officials threatened to walk out of the picture if Lavrov participated.

The disagreements among participants run from the war in Ukraine to U.S. tariffs, Chinese activity in the South China Sea, and the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Diplomats who attended the private talks, speaking on condition of anonymity, said these disputes have raised fuel costs and created uncertainty about trade. They said a chairman's statement had been the plan for some time because of the depth of these differences.

Russia's position on Ukraine left little room for compromise, the diplomats said. They described Russia's stance on the conflict, as well as its opposition to Poland's membership in the G20, as unyielding. Other points of contention included the Trump administration's decision not to invite South Africa to the meeting, which drew objections from other members.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, whose country attended as a guest for the first time, said the lack of consensus was not a surprise. "We have wars going on, and we have participants in those wars around the table, so it's very difficult to agree on a common line," he told reporters.

Lavrov said Moscow would not permit a situation in which Ukraine poses a "military threat to legitimate security interests of the Russian Federation." He has traveled infrequently to NATO member states since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and sanctions followed. On Friday, the State Department announced it had approved a proposed $2.1 billion sale of Patriot air defense interceptors for Ukraine.

Rubio met on Friday with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. The meetings took place amid concerns about the potential for renewed U.S. military strikes against Iran. Rubio said the first day of talks was "very productive," and he met with counterparts from Australia, India, and Japan on Saturday to discuss supply chains.

The conversation examined freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, the Black Sea, and the South China Sea. Diplomats said they would work to make next month's summit of G20 leaders, hosted by President Donald Trump in Florida in December, a success. It remains unclear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the summit at Trump's Miami golf club.