JOHANNESBURG: Due to diplomatic tensions between the US and South Africa, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will not attend a conference of foreign ministers from G20 nations that begins in Johannesburg on Thursday. The US will be represented by US ambassador to South Africa Dana Brown, while other diplomats are anticipated to attend, including Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The African Union, a member of the G20, the European Union, and the United Nations will also be present. Following an executive order by US President Donald Trump that halted foreign aid to the nation due to a law that the White House claimed amounted to discrimination against the nation’s white minority, Rubio declined the meeting.
According to Ronald Lamola, the foreign minister of South Africa, Rubio’s decision was “not a complete boycott of South Africa’s G20.” “In one form or shape or another,” he said, the United States would be represented in Johannesburg this week. Additionally, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has stated that he would not be attending the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in South Africa next week.
Due to commitments in Washington, Bessent stated on the social media site X that he would not be attending the event. “In his place, a senior Treasury official will attend,” he said. Rubio and Bessent’s absence, according to analysts, showed how bad relations are and indicated that the US was withdrawing from the G20.
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