Brazilian President Lula da Silva (right) receives US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken before the summit (Getty)
The G20 foreign ministers met on Wednesday for a two-day summit in Brazil, the potential outcomes of which are weighed down by conflicts and crises, from the wars in Gaza and Ukraine to growing divisions.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Secretary of State Sergey Lavrov are participating in the meeting being held in Rio de Janeiro, which is the first high-level meeting of the G20 this year, but their Chinese counterpart Wang Yi will be absent from it.
In a world torn by conflicts and divisions, Brazil - which took over the rotating presidency of the group from India last December - expressed hope for what President Lula da Silva considered "the forum with the greatest ability to positively influence the international agenda."
The Brazilian president has made reforming global governance a top priority for the group this year, along with reducing climate change and fighting poverty.
But da Silva's effort to make the G20 a space to find common ground will be met with American anger over his statements in which he accused Israel of committing "genocide" and compared its war on the Gaza Strip to the Holocaust.
After more than 4 months of the violent war waged by Israel on Gaza, there are no signs of progress towards establishing peace on the horizon.
Yesterday, Tuesday, the United States used its veto power for the third time during a vote on a draft resolution in the UN Security Council calling for a ceasefire.
The outlook is also bleak for Russia's war in Ukraine, over which G20 members are divided.
Despite pressure from Western countries to condemn the group's Russian war in Ukraine, the previous summit - which was held in New Delhi last September - ended with a mild statement that denounced the use of force, but without explicitly naming Russia, which maintains friendly relations with members such as India and Brazil.
The G20 - which includes the majority of the world's major economies - was established in 1999, and was mainly an economic forum, before its involvement in international politics increased.
Source: Agencies