World leaders meet in Hamburg Friday for one of the most highly-anticipated summits in years, as divisions rage over everything from trade and climate change to handling North Korea’s provocations.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will chair the summit of Group of 20 nations, which has already been overshadowed by violent clashes between police and anti-globalization protesters. The talks are due to start at 10:30 a. with an informal session on terrorism. The event will also see the first official meeting between U. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which will take place around 3:45 p.
The summit will highlight the tensions that are reshaping global politics as the world adjusts to Trump’s election last year. will be represented for the first time in decades by a president who embraces protectionism, forcing Germany and China into an informal alliance pushing the merits of free trade.
Leaders also face a U. leader much more unpredictable than his predecessors, which may concern the Chinese as tempers fray on how best to curtail North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
“We won’t paper over discord, but rather recognize when there is discord and different views on various topics,” Merkel said Thursday.
So far, the summit in the port city has been dominated by clashes between protesters and police. The police used water cannon and pepper spray on Thursday as they targeted a group of about 1,000 people seeking to march to the summit site. While the march was canceled, police could be seen chasing some members of the Black Bloc, a group of black-clad militant anarchists, into the evening.
Read more: The flash points for leaders at the G-20
The two-day meeting’s official agenda will be dominated by discussions about terror financing, global trade and climate. But the real highlight will be the first meeting between Trump and Putin. president’s initial months in office have been dominated by the fallout from Russia’s meddling in the U. election and allegations about collusion between his campaign officials and the Kremlin.
Issues between the nations include Russian sanctions, halting North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and managing frictions over Syria and Iran. It’s still not clear whether Trump will raise the hacking issue.
Both sides played down expectations, portraying the meeting mostly as a chance for the leaders to take the measure of each other. The goal of improved ties has met fierce resistance in Washington.
Trump’s meeting with Xi, scheduled for Saturday, is also one to watch. Chinese officials have struck an optimistic tone -- even going so far as to single out the “Art of the Deal” as a book to be read "with respect," in a press conference Thursday. But there are signs the friendship struck up between Trump and Xi at Mar-a-Lago in April is fraying.
Read more: Flattery meets Art of the Deal as China Braces for Trump
Trump initially backed off campaign threats to declare China a currency manipulator following his shock election victory in November, seeking China’s help on North Korea. But he has since shown signs of losing patience as Pyongyang tests missile after missile, including its first intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday. “So much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!” Trump said in a tweet Wednesday.
Ultimately, Merkel will have the toughest job at the summit as she tries to steer a path through the divisions and produce a communique everyone can agree to. She is reluctant, for example, for the U. to seem too isolated after a G-7 summit in Sicily that was marred by a bitter disagreement between Trump and other leaders over climate change. The president declared his attention to pull out of the Paris Accord just days later.
"I will do all I can to find compromises and answers to the questions that are important for shaping globalization," Merkel said Thursday. “Naturally climate will also play a role here, and as you can imagine, there will be discussions here that won’t be all that easy.
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