South Africa welcomes US decision to join G20 closing after boycott threat

South Africa has said it will welcome the United States’ decision to take part in the closing session of the G20 leaders’ summit after earlier indications that Washington would not attend.

The statement came from William Baloyi, head of the South African government’s media relations department, as per Russian media.

“We will welcome the U.S. decision to reach out to us and announce its intention to participate in the summit’s closing ceremony,” Baloyi said, adding that South Africa has never shut itself off from engagement with other countries.

President Donald Trump had previously announced that he would skip the summit, citing widely discredited claims that South Africa’s Black-majority government is persecuting the country’s white minority. The U.S. has also opposed key elements of South Africa’s agenda for the summit, including initiatives supporting climate adaptation and debt relief for developing nations.

President Cyril Ramaphosa had hoped to use the gathering to highlight South Africa’s role in multilateral diplomacy, but Trump’s boycott initially cast a shadow over those plans. Nevertheless, analysts argue the summit could still deliver meaningful outcomes if other G20 members back the agenda and agree on a substantial final declaration.

The United States is scheduled to host the G20 in 2026. Ramaphosa noted that, as a result of Washington’s planned absence, he would be handing over the rotating G20 presidency to an “empty chair,” after declining a White House proposal to send the U.S. chargé d’affaires to accept the handover on Trump’s behalf.

By Tamilla Hasanova