Russia condemns US exclusion of SA from G20 Summit

Russia has once again voiced its disapproval of the United States' choice to omit South Africa from the G20 Summit it is currently hosting. The criticism emerges just days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz implored US President Donald Trump to reconsider South Africa's exclusion from the December leaders' summit in Miami, Florida.

Diplomatic pressure is mounting as the G20 foreign ministers convene in Atlanta next week. Russia's G20 affairs ambassador-at-large, Marat Berdyev, speaking to the Interfax news agency, called South Africa's exclusion "absurd" and a violation of the group's principles of consensus and collective decision-making. According to a report by SABC News US correspondent Sherwin Bryce-Pease, the United States will only attend the G20 Leader’s Summit handover ceremony and will not participate in the discussions.

In a recent interview, Berdyev also criticized Washington's decision to invite Poland as a potential new member while excluding South Africa. This comes after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for South Africa to be represented at the December leaders' summit. While South Africa remains an official G20 member despite the exclusion, the dispute is likely to resurface at next week's foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta.