Security Concerns To Overshadow Global Governance @ Foreign Ministers Mtng

The G20 Foreign Minsiters meeting, getting underway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at 1400 local time (1200ET, 1700GMT/1800CET), is likely to be dominated by global security concerns. This is despite Brazilian President Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva's stated intentions of having his nation's G20 presidency in 2024 focus on improving 'global governance', curbing climate change and reducing poverty.

• US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and other Ukrainian allies from the UK, France, Germany and elsewhere will be in attendance, as will Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The G20 is one of the few global forums where senior officials from both sides are in the same room, with the 2023 foreign ministers meeting being the last time Blinken and Lavrov met.
• Brazil and others have sought to reform the United Nations, which some view as ineffectual in dealing with global issues such as the war in Ukraine or heightened tensions in the Middle East. However, reaching agreement on a new or reformed system appears unlikely given that the five permanent Security Council members (China, France, Germany, the UK and the US) will be reluctant to give up their vetoes.
• The 21 Feb session, running until 1830 local time (1630ET, 2130GMT, 2230CET), is set to focus on security issues, while the 22 Feb meeting - starting at 0800 local time (0600ET, 1100GMT, 1200CET) - is scheduled to address global governance.