Economic growth, Ukraine- Russia Conflict, China addressed at the final day of the G20 Summit
- quillmastersslcj
- Nov 15, 2014
- 2 min read
The G20 summit in Australia has entered its second and final day with the focus on boosting economic growth. Finance ministers from G20 countries drew up plans in February to boost global growth by 2% in five years.
The first day was overshadowed by anger with Russia's President Vladimir Putin over the conflict in Ukraine. Putin criticised US and EU sanctions imposed over Russia's involvement in the Ukraine conflict, saying they hurt the West as well as Russia.
On Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron all sharply criticised Russia. The Kremlin denies that it has sent military forces or heavy weapons to pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine.
There had been reports that Putin, faced with criticism over Ukraine, would leave the summit early, but his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said he would only leave "when all the work is completed."
Meanwhile, President Obama warned on Saturday that Asia's security must not be based on intimidation of small nations by big ones, but on mutual alliances. He did not mention China explicitly but he warned of the dangers posed by territorial disputes in the South China Sea, where Beijing's actions have raised concern among its neighbours.
Obama said there was "no question" over his commitment to Asia-Pacific allies, referring to US efforts to strengthen strategic ties with the region.
In other developments, G20 leaders released a statement in which they vowed to do all they could to "extinguish" the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. It said that members state were committed to do what was necessary "to ensure the international effort can extinguish the outbreak and address its medium-term economic and humanitarian costs".
By Kavindya Thomas
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