The two-day summit of the G20 taking place in Turkey has taken on a new urgency, with the Paris attacks in which over 130 people died pushing the fight against terrorism to the top of the agenda.
16 November 2015
President Barack Obama says the United States would stick to its current strategy in the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, again ruling out putting US troops on the ground in a fighting capacity, Reuters reports.
"There will be an intensification of the strategy that we put forward but the strategy they we put forward is the strategy that ultimately is going to work," Obama told reporters at a news conference at the close of a Group of 20 summit.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says attacks in Paris claimed by Islamic State which killed 129 people were a strike against French values rather than actions.
"They (Islamic State) are not hitting us for what we are doing, but for what we are," Fabius told a news conference.
President Vladimir Putin says he’s shared Russian intelligence data on Islamic State financing with his G20 colleagues: the terrorists appear to be financed from 40 countries, including some G20 member states.
Turkish President Racep Tayyip Erdogan says migrant issues and terrorism should not be conflated, and that linking the two is an effort to avoid humanitarian responsibility.
Attitudes towards Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his country’s actions particularly in Syria have changed at the current G20 summit, with “more attention being paid to what he is saying and what he has been advocating,” political commentator John Wight told RT.
“From the pictures of the discussions that we’ve seen taking place at the G20 between Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama, from the body language alone we can see that there has been a change in the level of engagement... Now Putin is being listened to, whereas in the past – as we know from the G20 summit in Brisbane – he was treated as a pariah,” Wight said.
“Putin and his stance hasn't changed one inch,” he added, saying that it’s the “enormity of the events” that have shown western policy was wrong, with Islamic State bringing “its war against civilization beyond Syria and Iraq to engulf Europe and the entire world.”
“Despite the propaganda that has been deployed to demonize Russia... the public can see that the only actors to have clarity when it comes to their engagement in this conflict are Russia, the Syrian government, the Lebanese resistance organization Hezbollah and the Iranian government,” the British commentator told RT.
15 November 2015
A bilateral meeting between President Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 summit has begun. The agenda of the meeting is unknown, as following the formal handshake, the media was asked to leave.
Vladimir Putin proposed to hold a bilateral meeting with Angela Merkel, following the working dinner of the G20 leaders. “We’ve already worked hard today, but surely there are more questions worth addressing in bilateral format,” the Russian President said, with German Chancellor agreeing that G20 provides a good opportunity for such talks.
The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, has proposed 10 steps to battle terrorism at the G20 summit in Turkey, which include cutting off terrorist funds and an information campaign.
The French Air Force has carried out strikes against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) fighters in Northern Syria. Ten fighter jets dropped 20 bombs over the IS held city of Raqqa. According to the Defense Ministry, the strikes destroyed a command and control center, munitions depot, as well as a training camp and jihadi recruitment center.
READ MORE: French jets bomb ISIS command center, other targets in Raqqa
Leaders at the G20 summit in Turkey are set to debate Syrian President Bashar Assad’s future at a meeting later on Sunday while also discussing the conflict in Syria and the fight against terrorism, Russian Sherpa to the G20 Svetlana Lukash reported.
“I think this will happen now,” she told journalists when asked whether Assad’s future would be discussed, Reuters reports.
“Now begins a working dinner of the G20 leaders on terrorism and refugees, and it is planned to discuss joint action and approaches and also to discuss the draft of a joint statement on terrorism,” she added.
The G20 stand united to face any militant threat, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the G20 summit in Turkey. “We are sending a strong message that we are stronger than any form of terrorism,” Merkel said as cited by Reuters. She also added that strengthening EU external borders is a crucial task for Germany.
According to Kremlin's sherpa to the G20, Svetlana Lukash, the informal meeting between Putin and Obama lasted for more than 30 minutes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama have held talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey.
The leaders of the world's 20 largest economies pledged to use all policy tools to address uneven economic growth that falls short of expectations, according to a draft communiqué seen by Reuters. In a nod to vulnerable financial markets, the leaders highlighted the need to "carefully calibrate" and clearly communicate policy decisions. They also noted the scale of the current refugee crisis, dubbed the worst since WW2, saying all states need to share the burden, including through refugee resettlement and other forms of humanitarian aid.
The United States and Russia must cooperate in fighting Islamic State in Syria, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council said at a news conference on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Antalya. "It should be our common aim to coordinate our actions against Daesh (Arabic term for Islamic State), and for sure cooperation between the United States and Russia is a crucial one," Tusk stressed.
The day after Islamic State extremists killed 129 people in Paris, participants at the Vienna talks on the Syrian peace process agreed new elections should be held within the next 18 months in the country.
The G20 has to boost efforts to cut off financing to terrorists, Tusk said on Sunday.
"Terror networks cannot plan or operate without the money that moves through the financial systems of many countries. Only if we fully cooperate on exchange of information about suspicious transactions, will we be able to stop this threat effectively," he added.
Watch RT’s Ilya Petrenko report from Antalya:
On Monday, the G20 leaders are expected to agree migration is a global problem that must be addressed in a coordinated way, in a diplomatic coup for Europe and Turkey, according to a draft communiqué seen by Reuters.
The leaders are also likely to concur that all countries should help curb the migrant crisis, which is expected to see a million people from the Middle East and Africa flooding into Europe this year alone.
Europe and Turkey have been pushing for the G20 to recognize the issue as a global problem and help deal with it financially.
"We call upon all states to contribute to responding to this crisis and share in the burdens associated with it, including through refugee resettlement, other forms of humanitarian admission, humanitarian aid and efforts to ensure that refugees can access services, education and livelihood opportunities," the draft, seen by Reuters, said.
The document, to be published on Monday, has yet to be accepted by all G20 leaders.
In the wake of the Paris attacks, the leaders of the world's 20 most powerful countries meeting in Turkey have agreed to step up border controls and aviation security, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters. They have condemned the attacks, claimed by Islamic State, as "heinous" and said they remained united in the fight against terrorism, according to the draft document. The finalized document is expected to be released later on Sunday.
At a meeting running on the margins of the G20 summit in Antalya, leaders of the BRICS countries have expressed hope that agreements on the beginning of a political settlement in Syria would be met, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday.
“We talked about the situation in Syria of course, and gave a positive assessment to the Vienna meeting of the Syrian Support Group, which took place yesterday. We've expressed hope that the agreement to launch a political process [in Syria] will be fulfilled,” Lavrov said.
He added that it's necessary to form a delegation from the Syrian opposition, to begin dialogue between the government and the opposition before the end of the year, and to reach agreements on the constitution, elections and reforms within the next 18 months.
Israel said its intelligence services were helping France investigate the Paris attacks.
"The cooperation is ongoing, but in accordance with the prime minister's directive, intelligence material relevant to what happened has been relayed, and we will also deepen cooperation," Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said.
"This information can help the French - and not just the French, by the way - to deal with the aftermath, and not just with what happened, but also with terrorist attacks planned for the future," Katz added.
The intel refers to surveillance of militants in Syria and Iraq, according to Israeli media.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said his country's intelligence services had shared data indicating France, the US and Iran were among countries being targeted for attack.
"Information has been obtained from Iraqi intelligence sources that the countries to be targeted are Europe in general, specifically France, as well as America and Iran," Jaafari said from the sidelines of the Syria talks Vienna on Saturday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, along with a German delegation, touched down in Antalya, Sunday, ahead of the G20 summit taking place in the southern Turkish city between 15 and 16 November.
During an informal meeting of the leaders of the BRICS countries, which is running on the margins of the G20 summit in Antalya, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that coping with the terrorist threat and assisting refugees is only possible through combined efforts.
"We all understand perfectly well that dealing with the terrorist threat and helping millions of people who have lost their homes, is possible only by combining the efforts of the entire world community," Putin said. "As for the threat of terrorism, we have all seen the horror that took place in Paris. We sympathize with the people affected,” the president added.
At a news conference during the G20 meeting of world leaders in Turkey, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the response to terrorism needs to be robust, but always within the rule of law and with respect for human rights.
He welcomed the renewed sense of urgency after the Paris attacks to find a solution to the civil war in Syria, adding that the world had a "rare moment" of diplomatic opportunity to end the violence.
US President Barack Obama described the killings in Paris, claimed by Islamic State, as an attack on the civilized world, saying the US would work with France to bring those responsible to justice.
"As we I'm sure each said to President Hollande and the French people, we stand in solidarity with them in hunting down the perpetrators of this crime and bringing them to justice," Obama told a joint news conference with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the G20.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted leaders of fellow BRICS countries, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Jacob Zuma in Antalya, Sunday, ahead of an informal BRICS meeting taking place on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with a Russian delegation, touched down in Antalya, Sunday morning, ahead of the G20 summit taking place in the city between 15 and 16 November.
US President Barack Obama arrived at Antalya International Airport, Sunday morning, ahead of the G20 summit taking place in the city between 15 and 16 of November.