G20 summit: Angela Merkel's plane 'makes emergency landing' on way to Argentina
The summit is set to get started on Friday, and the stakes are high for the leaders attending in Argentina
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Donald Trump has called off expected bilateral talks with Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires amid increasing tensions surrounding the Russia-Ukraine crisis and explosive reports the president's former lawyer lied about a Trump Tower project in Moscow.
As world leaders began to arrive in Argentina ahead of the start of the summit on Friday, tensions surround Russia's current stand-off with Ukraine over the Kerch Strait in the Sea of Azov, where the Russian navy captured three of its neighbours vessels over a territorial dispute on Sunday. Mr Trump tweeted while on his way to the annual summit that he was cancelling his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, writing, "Based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia, I have decided it would be best for all parties concerned to cancel my previously scheduled meeting in Argentina with President Vladimir Putin."
German chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to address the situation, which has seen Ukraine implement martial law in 10 regions, before Mr Trump and Mr Putin sit down on Saturday, as well as other worlds leaders, who plan to discuss the conflict along with a multitude of other high-profile global concerns. But, in a quirk that shows that international travel is never easy, Ms Merkel's plane was forced to make an unexpected landing in Germany — and she will not be able to attend the opening of the G20 summit.
Beyond the situation in Ukraine, the stakes are high for those attending, and that is especially true for Mr Trump, who is hoping to finish signing a reworked trade deal with Canada and Mexico — and find common ground with China to try to divert a potential escalation in trade relations that has already led to tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in imports for both countries. Days before the G20, Mr Trump suggested that failure to negotiate adequately during a dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping could lead to even further tariffs.
Meanwhile, the meeting is the first high profile meeting of world leaders since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi officials in Turkey, and world leaders are taking varied approaches in how they deal with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been accused of overseeing the murder of the journalist. Mr Trump is not expected to meet with the crown prince, while French President Emmanuel Macron is going ahead with a meeting. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that he would not schedule a meeting with the Saudi leader.
In Buenos Aires, security has ben ramped up as officials prepare for the high profile summit, and residents of the city have been advised to take a long weekend away if possible. Meanwhile, thousands of anti-capitalist protesters are expected in the city.
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Hello and welcome to The Independent's coverage of the build-up to the G20 summit of world leaders in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
As the delegates arrive, the Kremlin has said it has agreed a deal with Washington for Vladimir Putin to meet with US president Donald Trump to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
Kiev has voted to impose martial law in 10 strategic regions for 30 days in response to Russia's actions, a course of concern to the international community.
German chancellor Angela Merkel has said the West is imposing sanctions on Russia to stand up for international law and added that she would address the Sea of Azov issue with Russian president Vladimir Putin at an upcoming G20 summit.
"We don't impose sanctions on Russia for sanctions' sake, rather we impose sanctions to make clear that countries, even if their territorial situation puts them close to Russia, have the right to their own development," she told a Germany-Ukraine conference in Berlin.
"Those are the principles of international law."
The European Union's hawks have called for more sanctions on Russia after the fresh flare-up of tensions with Ukraine but the divided bloc is not going to act swiftly, if at all, diplomatic sources have said.
Here's some background on how the situation erupted and what martial law means for the Ukraine:
For the latest on the captive Ukrainian sailors, here's The Independent's Oliver Carroll reporting from Kiev:
Also joining the G20 will be Britain's very own Theresa May, there to tell world leaders that the Brexit deal she has reached with the EU will be good for the global economy as she uses a international gathering to push her "global Britain" message.
The prime minister is joining leaders including US president Donald Trump, China's Xi Jinping and Japan's Shinzo Abe at the annual summit of the G20 group of leading economies in Argentina.
The long-running dispute over the Falkland Islands - still claimed as Las Malvinas by Argentina, 36 years after the 1982 war - is likely to be discussed in a one-on-one meeting with Argentina's president Mauricio Macri but is not thought likely to dominate the talks, which will focus on trade.
Other important matters set to dominate the talks will be the US's trading relationship with China, the reaction to the presence of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in his country's embassy in Turkey and the signing of the the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), replacing NAFTA.
President Trump's support for Saudi Arabia over the Khashoggi affair has left Turkey in a complex situation, which will come to the fore in the event that Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Crown Prince Mohammed run into each other in Argentina.
A prolonged standoff with Riyadh could also jeopardise Turkey's own fragile rapprochement with Washington, if it forces Trump to choose sides between the rival regional powers.
Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has piled pressure on the G20 over its collective response to Russia this morning by expressing his fear that Moscow intends to illegally annex his entire country, as it did Crimea in 2014, and has called on Nato for help.
Among some of the topics Chinese and US officials may discuss at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires are the young Americans reportedly trapped in Beijing, where they say they have been refused permission to leave since June.
Chinese authorities may allegedly be using Sandra Han and her two children, 19-year-old Victor and 27-year-old Cynthia Liu, to press her husband, Liu Changming to return to the country. Mr Changming is wanted by law enforcement on numerous financial crime charges.
Both children hold US passports, and Victor Liu was born in the United States. This week, National Security Adviser John Bolton tweeted, “These Americans need to be allowed to return home."
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