G20 summit: Macron and Saudi crown prince in extraordinary exchange over Khashoggi murder and Yemen
Two-day summit intended to focus on development, infrastructure and food security
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Your support makes all the difference.The G20 Summit in Argentina kicked off with world leaders huddling on the sidelines to discuss their response to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was seen discussing the death with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who appeared to be ignored during the group’s official “family photo” portrait session.
Meanwhile, confusion remains over whether Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet during the summit.
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The president kicked off Friday morning with a series of angry tweets after the White House reaffirmed he had cancelled an expected discussion with Mr Putin, despite the Kremlin claiming otherwise.
“Oh, I get it! I am a very good developer, happily living my life, when I see our Country going in the wrong direction (to put it mildly). Against all odds, I decide to run for President & continue to run my business-very legal & very cool, talked about it on the campaign trail...,” he tweeted.
“....Lightly looked at doing a building somewhere in Russia. Put up zero money, zero guarantees and didn’t do the project. Witch Hunt!”
Reports suggest Mr Trump is in a “terrible mood” and “completely distracted” as he headed to the event.
The president responded to news of Mr Cohen’s plea deal by saying he was a “weak person and not a very smart person.”
Mr Trump will be having a number of meetings at the summit in Buenos Aires starting the day at 6.50am local time and finishing 10.10pm. He said on Thursday he had cancelled a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, due to the country’s conflict with Ukraine.
The president has downgraded a number of his bilateral meetings as he feels “there’s nothing in them for him”, according to CNN.
Issues such as the trade war between the US and China and the conflict over Ukraine are likely to dominate the agenda.
Ahead of the summit Mr Trump said current tariff levels on Chinese imports would rise as planned.
The summit is being held in South America for the first time and Michael Shifter, head of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank, said G20 summits wer once considered an opportunity for Latin American members Argentina, Brazil and Mexico to shape the global agenda.
“That turned out to be a fleeting aspiration,” Mr Shifter said.
“...Argentine president Mauricio Macri, the summit’s host, has lowered expectations. ... Now a success would be a summit meeting that goes smoothly, without any major disruption.”
World leaders attending the G20 summit in Buenos Aires have posed for the official "family photo" - here's a first look that was uploaded to Twitter immediately after the occasion from local media covering the event. More snaps from the moment will make their way online before the official portrait is released.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is seated next to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Video showed the two world leaders greeting each other with big smiles and a handshake, before laughing and continuing to speak as they took their seats.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has awarded White House senior adviser and son-in-law to Donald Trump the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle during a ceremony at the G20 summit in Argentina.
The president honoured Mr Kushner with the order for his work in securing US support for the revised North American trade deal called the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, otherwise known as USMCA.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted a photo of the moment with a statement reading, “Incredible honor for Jared and great moment for the entire Trump administration.
French President Emmanuel Macron has told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Europeans will insist on international experts being part of the investigations into a Saudi journalist's murder, an Elysee official has said.
In a five-minute exchange on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina, Mr Macron conveyed "very firm" messages to the prince over the murder of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last month, the official added.
The Saudi Gazette newspaper posted a video of the meeting online, showing the two speaking in hushed tones with their heads close together, Macron looking the crown prince in the eye and Mohammed bin Salman nodding his head and at times smiling.
Here is some more on that exchange:
Here is some more video of the handshake between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As for Crown Prince Mohammed, he appeared sidelined during the official "family photo" of world leaders and other dignitaries before the start of the G20 meeting - standing at the far edge of the group portrait and being ignored.
The crown prince quickly exited the stage without shaking hands or talking with other leaders.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders is insisting that President Donald Trump cancelled a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin because of Russia's actions in Ukraine and not the federal investigation into Russian interference in Trump's election.
While Ms Sanders said the inquiry has damaged US-Russia relations, she reiterates that "the reason for our cancelled meeting is Ukraine." She said hopefully the situation will be resolved "soon so that productive conversations can begin."
That comes after Kremlin spokesman Demitri Peskov told the state-run RIA news agency that the two men may meet “on their feet” like the other leaders at the summit.
While he may have been isolated at the group photograph, but Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has met South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on the sidelines the G20 summit Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said on twitter.
The ministry posted pictures of Crown Prince Mohammed talking to Mr Moon and Mr Pena Nieto.
Japanese President Shinzo Abe reportedly congratulated Donald Trump for his “historic victory” during the 2018 midterm elections.
Mr Trump repeatedly told voters ahead of the election that he was effectively on the ballot, with the first vote since he took the Oval Office serving as a referendum on his presidency.
Meanwhile, despite the Republican Party maintaining control of the US Senate, the Democratic Party assumed control of the House of Representatives with a historic pickup of seats and record number of women elected into Congress.
Here's video of French President Emanuel Macron speaking with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who global intelligence agencies have accused of being linked to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The crown prince appears to smile and laugh on multiple occasions during the impromptu discussion.
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