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Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is flanked by U.S. President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping during a meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019 - Sputnik International

G20 Second Day Centers Around Climate Change, Equality, While World Leaders Hold Talks on Sidelines

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During the day of G20 summit, the leaders of major world countries are scheduled to hold special summits on Climate Change and Equality, while meetings on the sidelines are expected to shed light on major international events, including S-400 delivery to Turkey and the US-China trade war.

The second day of G20 began with the US President, who tweeted in the early morning that he was planning to meet with President Xi of China, and then he would be “leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon).” He also noted that he would visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between South Korea and the North as part of his upcoming visit to Seoul, saying that if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would also be there at his invitation, they would see each other "for two minutes."

“I don't know where [Kim] is right now, he may not be in North Korea, but I've said if Chairman Kim would want to meet, I'll be at the border … We’ll see. If he’s there we’ll see each other for two minutes. That’s all we can. But that will be fine," Trump told reporters later at the beginning of his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Al Saud on the G20 summit sidelines.

The White House said this morning that President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman discussed US-Iran tensions, trade, and human rights. Trump reportedly told Saudi Crown Prince that he has "done really a spectacular job" opening the country for new opportunities, including for women.

After this, the leaders held two sessions. The session on climate change, scheduled for today, is expected to be one of the more contentious ones, with some governments far apart on how to reduce plastic litter that's polluting oceans. Japan’s News agency Kyodo reported that the leaders of the G20 as a whole are ready to agree with the goal of reducing emissions of plastic waste to zero by 2050. However, there is no clear agreement on other aspects of ecology between the leaders. For example, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he would not sign the final communiqué if it does not mention the Paris Climate Agreement, which entered into force in 2016.

The Group of 20 leaders have also joined their host Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in showcasing support for helping women close the gap with men in finance and other forms of economic empowerment during the second session.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that during their bilateral meeting, Putin and Merkel are likely to discuss holding the next meeting on the Ukrainian crisis settlement in the so-called Normandy Four format.

Earlier on Saturday, Peskov said that Putin addressed the Normandy format talks during his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Osaka on Friday. Both presidents have noted the need to re-energize the talks, which include Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France.

Putin also held a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The sides talked about bilateral investment cooperation, as Putin hailed growing bilateral trade and the rising flow of Russian tourists to Turkey. They also discussed the delivery of the S-400 air defence systems, agreeing that it should start without delay.  Erdogan will also hold talks with the US President later today, and the issue of the delivery of the Russian missile defence system is expected to be one of the topics.

Meanwhile, Trump sat down for talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, speaking of good intentions as the meeting began Saturday, beginning one of the most anticipated meetings on the sidelines of the summit. Trump said he believed the meeting would be “very productive”, while Xi recounted the era of "ping-pong diplomacy" which helped jump-start US-China relations two generations ago and suggested that "cooperation and dialogue are better than friction and confrontation."

Table of contents
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08:31 GMT 29.06.2019

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reaffirmed that the deal with purchase S-400 missile systems from Russia has already been confirmed and won't be cancelled. The president underlined that Ankara would not reject the agreement that is the 'on brink' of deliveries.

Erdogan stated that Washington did not appear to be contemplating sanctions against Turkey over its acquisition of the Russian systems.

On F-35 deliveries from the US, Erdogan said that Turkey still expects the aircraft shipments, adding that they have already paid for them and haven't been issued a refund.

According to President Erdogan, the Russian S-400s will be delivered to Turkey in the first half of July.

08:30 GMT 29.06.2019

French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday he wanted to turn a new page on Europe’s relationship with Russia.

"We have many issues in common. Syria, Ukraine, which is at our threshold, lots of issues in Africa, disarmament, restoring calm in Europe. In a more general sense, we need to build a new architecture of trust and security between Europe and Russia … We could build a new partnership", Macron said.

The French president spoke at a press conference on the G20 margins in Osaka, Japan. He said Russia needed to meet Europe halfway, including changing its alleged malign behaviour in cyberspace.

08:03 GMT 29.06.2019

UK Prime Minister Theresa May said on Saturday that the United Kingdom favoured improving its relations with Russia, but Russia had to change its policies so that it could happen.

"Yesterday, I told [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin that there can only be a normalisation of our bilateral relationship if Russia stops the pattern of irresponsible activity that threatens the United Kingdom and its allies, such as the use of a deadly nerve agent on the streets of Salisbury. We remain open to a different relationship, but for that to happen the Russian government must choose a different path", May told a press conference at the G20 summit in Japan's Osaka.

07:47 GMT 29.06.2019

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday he and Donald Trump had asked their diplomats to begin talks on the New START nuclear arms control treaty.

"As for New START, we have ordered foreign ministries of our respective countries to begin consultations. It is too early to tell whether it will help prolong New START", Putin told reporters in Osaka, Japan.

07:27 GMT 29.06.2019

Russian President Vladimir Putin has underlined that the relations between the United Kingdom and Russia should not be abandoned over the Skripal case. The Russian leader noted that the interest toward the case was stirred up by his interview to the Financial Times and he had to provide an answer.

British Prime Minister Theresa May and Russian President Vladimir Putin take their seats during a meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) leaders summit in Osaka, Japan - Sputnik International
Kremlin: Russian President Putin Provided Answers to UK PM May Over Skripal Case
07:05 GMT 29.06.2019

US President Donald Trump said in a closing press conference at the G20 Summit in Japan on Saturday that he would resume trade talks with China but would not lift tariffs on Chinese imports yet.

"We will be continuing to negotiate and I promised that at least for the time being we are not going to be lifting tariffs on China. We won’t be adding an additional tremendous amount of $350 billion left, which could be taxed or could be tariffed. We are not doing that. We are going to work with China on where we left off", Trump said.

A U.S. dollar banknote featuring American founding father Benjamin Franklin and a China's yuan banknote featuring late Chinese chairman Mao Zedong are seen among U.S. and Chinese flags in this illustration picture taken May 20, 2019. Picture taken May 20, 2019 - Sputnik International
US Will Not Remove Trade Tariffs on Chinese Goods 'for the Time Being' - Trump
07:01 GMT 29.06.2019

President Trump has indicated his intention to travel to the demilitarised zone on the border between the two Koreas on Sunday. According to the US leader, he received a positive response from Pyongyang about the potential meeting, but he is still uncertain whether the meeting will take place.

"I'll be leaving now, as you know, for South Korea ... I understand that we may be meeting Chairman Kim, and we will find out, spoke with the people, Kim Jong Un was very receptive and he responded, so we'll see, because tomorrow we are going to the DMZ, I said while I'm there, I'll shake his hand", Trump said at a press conference at the end of the G20 summit in Japan.  

Trump stressed that he was getting along with the North Korean leader very well.

"I let them [North Korea] know we'll be there [at the DMZ] and we'll see, I mean I can't tell you exactly, but they did respond very favourably", the US president added.

06:54 GMT 29.06.2019

The leaders of the G20 have reaffirmed their commitment to free and fair trade in the final declaration adopted following the conclusion of the G20 summit in Osaka. The heads of states and governments acknowledged increasing differences in trade and geopolitics, vowing to fight relevant risks. 

Touching upon the necessity to reform the WTO, the leaders agreed that changes are needed to improve the organisation and its functions. The participants of the gathering noted that international trade and investment are an important engine for trade, productivity, innovation, job creation and development.

However, the final declaration also revealed disagreements between the forum's attendees. All the participants of the forum have reiterated their commitment to the Paris climate agreement, with the exception of the United States.

06:36 GMT 29.06.2019

Japanese Prime Shinzo Abe said on Saturday that a reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was unavoidable, since the WTO was not coping with challenges of the digital era.

"Reform of the WTO is unavoidable. We have the recent moves regarding globalisation and digitisation. The WTO is not necessarily coping with such moves of recent time ... Big data, AI [artificial intelligence], the fourth industrial revolution — they are progressing rapidly. At a time like that, regarding data which is a source of added value, we need to create new rules", Abe said at a press conference at the G20 summit in Japan's Osaka.

05:56 GMT 29.06.2019
05:47 GMT 29.06.2019

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has stated that Beijing is willing to pursue trade negotiations with Washington provided that the talks are held in the spirit of equality and mutual respect. Xi also urged Trump to show flexibility in dealing with North Korea.

In his turn, President Trump underlined that he had no intention to be hostile against China.

05:42 GMT 29.06.2019

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sent a letter to the G20 Summit in Japan’s Osaka, urging leaders to develop their countries jointly instead of closing borders.

"We think that opting to cooperate for development is much more constructive than closing borders or resorting to force", he said in a letter to G20.

He praised UN's Agenda 2030 for sustainable development as the way forward, saying jobs and welfare incentives at home would stop people from fleeing.

Mexico rolled out a plan on how to develop Central America, including through encouraging cooperation between regional donors and giving $30 million in funds to El Salvador.

The United States demanded that Mexico stop Latin American migrants from coming to its southern border and threatened it with a steadily increasing tax on imports. The two reached a deal on how to tighten border controls earlier in June.

05:21 GMT 29.06.2019

US President Donald Trump has voiced concern over the procurement of Russian S-400 missile systems by Ankara and called for cooperation with Washington to strengthen NATO. 

In the course of the talks, the two leaders also discussed the "desire to improve bilateral trade and achieve common goals in Syria."

"The two leaders discussed a range of bilateral issues important to both countries, including the desire to improve bilateral trade and achieve shared objectives in Syria. The President expressed concern about Turkey’s potential purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system, and encouraged Turkey to work with the United States on defense cooperation in a way that strengthens the NATO Alliance," the White House said in a statement.

05:15 GMT 29.06.2019

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised on Saturday the Turkish-US strategic partnership, voicing the belief that the two countries would continue enjoying solidarity-based relations.

"We have a strategic partnership, and this strategic partnership also encourages us to create solidarity across many areas. I have full belief that our solidarity will continue through our strategic partnership", Erdogan said at talks with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, held on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan's Osaka.

Turkey and the United States are moving toward fulfilling their goal of bringing their annual trade to $75 billion, the Turkish leader added.

05:03 GMT 29.06.2019

Turkish President Recep Tayyip  Erdogan and India's PM Narendra Modi have discussed S-400 air defence deals in the course of their talks at the G20 summit held in Japan. 

Other topics of discussion included trade and investment as well as defence, counter-terrorism, IT and civil aviation.

05:02 GMT 29.06.2019

The United States has announced its readiness to abstain from introducing new tariffs on exported Chinese goods as a result of the meeting that US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Saturday, media have reported.

Trade delegations of the two countries have agreed to hold a more detailed conversation on the matter, Xinhua news agency specified.

04:47 GMT 29.06.2019

US President Donald Trump has stated in the course of his meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Osaka that Washington is mulling various options to resolve the controversy surrounding defence supplies to Ankara.

The US president admitted that the situation with the S-400 acquisition was complicated, adding that the issue remains under discussion.

04:41 GMT 29.06.2019

"We had a very good meeting with President Xi of China. I would say excellent, as good as it was going to be. We discussed a lot of things, and we are right back on track. We'll see what happens, but we had a really good meeting," Trump said.

In this Nov. 9, 2017, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, right, chats with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing - Sputnik International
Trump Expresses Readiness for Trade Deal with Beijing, Xi Says US, China Benefit from Cooperation
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