G20: Trump hails talks as 'success' despite divisions
US President Donald Trump has
declared the G20 summit in Germany a "wonderful success", despite his
country's isolated position on climate change.
In a joint
statement, the leaders of 18 nations and the EU recognised the US
decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.
However, they also said other G20 members remained committed to the "irreversible" accord.
Deadlock over the issue had held up the last day of talks in Hamburg.
A final agreement was eventually reached and the joint summit statement was officially released on Saturday.
The
statement also said the US would seek "to work closely with other
countries to help them access and use fossil fuels more cleanly and
efficiently".
The Paris accord sets targets for greenhouse gas emissions aimed at curbing global temperature increases.
In
her closing news conference, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who
hosted the summit in Hamburg, said she still deplored Mr Trump's
position but that she was "gratified" the other 19 nations opposed its
renegotiation.
However Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
later said that his country's ratification of the Paris accord was now
in doubt, as the US withdrawal jeopardised compensation for developing
countries.
Mr Erdogan said that when Turkey signed the accord, France had
promised that Turkey would be eligible for compensation for some of the
financial costs of compliance.
"So we said if this would happen,
the agreement would pass through parliament. But otherwise it won't
pass," Mr Erdogan told a news conference, adding that parliament had not
yet approved it.
Mr Trump also won a concession on trade, with
leaders underlining the right of countries to protect their markets with
what they referred to as legitimate trade defence instruments.
He later tweeted: "The #G20Summit was a wonderful success and carried out beautifully by Chancellor Angela Merkel. Thank you!"
North Korea talks
Mr
Trump held his final talks of the event with Chinese President Xi
Jinping, and the two leaders discussed efforts to rein in North Korea's
nuclear ambitions.
The US president told his Chinese counterpart that "something has to be done" after Pyongyang tested an intercontinental ballistic missile with the potential to hit the US state of Alaska on Tuesday.
President
Xi said he supported denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, and said
the China US relationship had made "progress... despite some sensitive
issues", state news agency Xinhua said.
Mr Xi suggested visits between the two countries' defence ministers, Xinhua added.
There were violent protests in the early hours of Sunday, with demonstrators setting cars on fire and throwing projectiles.
Hamburg has seen several days of anti-G20 demonstrations, with some of the rallies turning violent.
Police say 213 officers were injured, and 143 people were detained at the protests.
The
demonstrators were protesting against the presence of Mr Trump and
Vladimir Putin, as well as climate change and global wealth
inequalities.
BBC
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