G20: Rishi Sunak to set out global economic plan at summit – where he will face Putin’s right-hand man

Published

3 years ago

November 14, 2022

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Rishi Sunak will set out a five-point economic action plan to address global instability and the rising cost of living at this week’s G20 summit – where he will face Russia’s foreign minister and call out Vladimir Putin’s regime.

The prime minister is travelling to Bali for talks with leaders of the world’s biggest economies in his second test on the world stage since gaining office less than a month ago, following his swift visit to the COP27 climate talks in Egypt.

US President Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron and China’s Xi Jinping will all be present at the talks on Tuesday and Wednesday.

They are all expected to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and confront him. President Putin will likely skip the meeting despite Russia being a G20 member, in the face of condemnation of his war in Ukraine.

Mr Sunak warned this year’s meeting will not be “business as usual” as the world confronts the most significant set of economic challenges since the first G20 meeting in 2008, which took place in response to the financial crisis at the time.

The prime minister said he will “call out Putin’s regime” during the first encounter between a British prime minister and Russian government officials since the invasion began in February.

Ahead of the trip to Indonesia, Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said: “We will absolutely use every opportunity to confront Russia about their continued illegal actions.

“We will speak with our allies in one voice on this.”

It is likely to be the most fractious G20 meeting ever as divisions between the world’s 20 major economies are so deep the traditional “family photo” of all the leaders has been called off because many leaders will not want to be pictured with anybody from Putin’s regime.

Diplomats have raised doubts leaders will be able to issue a joint communique at the end of the summit, as usually happens.

While most would like to agree on a statement condemning Russia, that will not happen as Russia would have to agree to it.

Mr Sunak’s spokesman said whether there is a communique or not will make no difference to the UK’s position, adding; “We will ensure the UK’s position is heard loud and clear throughout the summit and we are confident that we will be speaking in line with a wide range of allies.”

Mr Sunak will lay out a five-point economic plan calling for:

• His fellow leaders to direct government support to where it is most needed – in their own countries and internationally

• The end to the weaponisation of food production and distribution, including calling for the Black Sea Grain Initiative to be renewed on 19 November and a G20-wide commitment to never use food as a weapon

• Each country’s energy security to be strengthened and to reduce energy dependence on Russia by working with partners to unlock investment needed to accelerate to green energy

• The opening up of global trade, including advancing bilateral free trade agreements and reform of the World Trade Organisation to “release the opportunities of the 21st Century while tackling the manipulation of global markets by malign actors”

• Honest, reliable finance to help developing countries grow sustainably by ensuring the international financial system can help those countries grow without becoming dependent on lenders.

Mr Sunak will meet Mr Biden for the first time, with the pair due to hold bilateral talks, but the US president’s priority is likely to be talking to President Xi to establish “red lines” as US-Chinese relations remain fraught.

The PM is also set to have one-on-one meetings with India’s PM Narendra Modi, Japan’s premier Fumio Kishida, new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

After a rocky few months in UK politics, with three PMs in two months, Mr Sunak will be keen to use the summit to restore Britain’s reputation for reliability and stability.

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The summit will also be an opportunity to influence an international agenda ahead of the chancellor’s autumn statement this Thursday, Mr Sunak’s spokesman said.

The PM said: “Later this week the autumn statement will set out how we will get this country on the right path, put public finances on a stable footing and get debt falling.

“Creating a stable international system that protects the most vulnerable will be a core part of that work.

“But addressing the biggest economic crisis in a decade will require a concerted effort by the world’s largest economies – these are not problems we can solve alone.

“At the G20, leaders need to step up to fix the weaknesses in the international economic system which Putin has exploited for years.”

World

Israel silences more crucial reporting voices from inside Gaza

Published

8 hours ago

August 11, 2025

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Israel silences more crucial reporting voices from inside Gaza

The targeted killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif and four other colleagues by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) late on Sunday silences more crucial reporting voices from inside Gaza.

The IDF wasted no time in releasing a statement claiming it had “eliminated” Al-Sharif, calling him a “terrorist” who “posed” as a journalist for Al Jazeera.

Gaza latest: Follow live updates

The Committee to Protect Journalists warned in July that Al-Sharif was the victim of an Israeli smear campaign and that they feared for his safety.

The IDF had previously released documents which they say proved his involvement with Hamas.

No word from them on his colleagues – Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa – who they also killed. We are chasing.

Al-Sharif’s death – and that of his four colleagues – is a chilling message to the journalistic community both on the ground and elsewhere ahead of Israel’s impending push into Gaza City.

There will now be fewer journalists left to cover that story, and – if it is even possible – they will be that bit more fearful.

This is how journalists are silenced. Israel knows this full well.

It has also not allowed international journalists independent access to enter Gaza to report on the war.

Al-Sharif’s death has sent shockwaves across the region, where he was a household name. He was prolific on social media and had a huge following.

I was watching horrifying footage of the immediate aftermath of the strike in the taxi on my way into the bureau, and the driver told me how he and his family had all cried for Anas when the news came in.

His little daughter cried because of Al-Sharif’s little daughter, Sham, who she knew from social media.

“They call everyone Hamas,” my taxi driver said. “Men, women, children”.

Last month, Al-Sharif wrote this post: “I haven’t stopped covering [the crisis] for a moment in 21 months, and today I say it outright… and with indescribable pain.

“I am drowning in hunger, trembling in exhaustion and resisting the fainting that follows me every moment… Gaza is dying. And we die with it.”

This is what journalists in Gaza are facing, every single day.

World

Israel’s PM tries to get on front foot in propaganda war he knows he is losing

Published

14 hours ago

August 11, 2025

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Israel's PM tries to get on front foot in propaganda war he knows he is losing

Israel’s prime minister added more detail to his deeply controversial plans for military escalation in Gaza at a news conference with foreign media yesterday – despite the condemnation of the UN Security Council, which met in an emergency session and urged him to rethink.

Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of a “fairly short timetable” to establish designated “safe zones” for the one million or so set to be displaced from Gaza City.

He also vowed to seize and dismantle Hamas’s final strongholds there – in the central refugee camps, and in al Mawasi, along Gaza’s southwestern coast.

This, per Netanyahu, is the only way to destroy the terror group, which he claimed “subjugates Gazans, steals their food and shoots them when they try to move to safety”.

Al Mawasi is already home to a significant displaced population, most of whom live in tents cramped up against the Mediterranean Sea, in what is already a designated humanitarian zone.

If members of Hamas live among them, rooting them out will be hugely complicated and will involve significant civilian casualties. If the residents of Gaza City can’t evacuate south to al Mawasi, where will they go?

Netanyahu’s plan is to set up more aid distribution sites through the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and to flood Gaza with food.

He claimed his policy was not one of forced starvation – describing particular photos of starving babies as “fake news”, and accusing the media of painting a false picture.

“The only ones who are being deliberately starved in Gaza are our hostages,” the prime minister claimed.

I asked Netanyahu how he would go about preventing the kinds of daily killings taking place at aid distribution points in the months since GHF has been operating.

Doctors Without Borders has described these incidents as deliberately orchestrated.

The prime minister said increasing the amount of aid heading into the Strip was the answer.

“And by the way, a lot of the firing was done by Hamas seeking to have a response by our forces,” he added. “And very often they didn’t, they held back. They stayed their own fire even though their own lives were on the line.”

This was Israel’s prime minister trying to get on the front foot in a propaganda war he acknowledged he was losing. He was loath to admit the presence of famine in Gaza.

It took two questions before he acknowledged there was “deprivation”, even if he would not be drawn on whether his 11-week total blockade of the strip earlier this year had played any role.

He recognises that the appalled response of the international community to the human cost of this war, and the accusations of war crimes and genocide which Israel so vehemently rejects, are a terrible look.

This was his attempt to reclaim the narrative.

World

Defiant Netanyahu sets out plan for military escalation in Gaza – and describes photographs of starving babies as ‘fake news’

Published

20 hours ago

August 10, 2025