Despite choosing not to send a delegation to the G-20 summit in Johannesburg, the shadow of US President Donald Trump loomed over the annual meeting of the world's twenty most powerful economies. Ultimatum in Ukraine to accept a biased peace plan The US's proposal to Russia, announced a couple of days ago, has shaped the summit's proceedings, particularly for representatives of European countries, who held a parallel meeting to discuss a common response. South Africa, the host country, secured the approval of a joint declaration focused on climate change, a significant blow to Trump, who had demanded that attendees not sign any document without US representation. Hours before the summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held telephone conversations with several leaders to discuss Trump's peace proposal. These included British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and French President Emmanuel Macron. According to Reuters, these top officials from the three European powerhouses held an initial meeting in Johannesburg to coordinate their positions. Later, the meeting expanded to include the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen of Germany, and the President of the European Council, António Costa of Portugal, as well as the leaders of Finland, Norway, Spain, and the Netherlands.

The G-20 meeting held in Rome prior to Glasgow's Climate Summit has left some important images that reflect the moment of instability that the post-pandemic world is living. On the one hand, the most notable were the physical absences of both Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, and Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, who took part and participated virtually but who were, in fact, at the centre of some of the conflicts, political but mainly economic, that dominated this summit.