The United States is not taking part in this weekend’s G20 summit in Johannesburg, the White House said on Thursday, denying earlier comments from South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, who had said Washington wanted to take part.
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“The United States is not participating in official talks at the G20 in South Africa,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
“I saw the South African president running his mouth a little bit against the United States and the president of the United States earlier today and that language is not appreciated by the president or his team,” she said.
Earlier on Thursday, Ramaphosa said the US government had indicated a “change of mind” and wanted to take part in the Group of 20 summit, in a reverse of its initial boycott.
South Africa had received communication from the US at “the eleventh hour”, Ramaphosa said, and was now working on the logistics to accommodate the US.
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US President Donald Trump has said the US was boycotting the two-day meeting of wealthy and developing nations that opens on Saturday over his claims that Ramaphosa’s government is violently persecuting a white minority.