Lavrov Challenges US Over South Africa’s G20 Status

At the 81st UNGA in New York, Lavrov addressed rumors of South Africa’s potential exclusion, labeling any attempt to replace it with Poland an unpardonable violation of the group’s functions. He clarified that the US role as host is administrative, limited to setting dates and facilitating logistics for existing members, rather than vetting participants. According to Lavrov, he personally raised these concerns with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to emphasize that the presidency grants no authority to reconfigure the G20 membership.

The G20, which accounts for 85% of global economic output and two-thirds of the world’s population, operates without a permanent secretariat. Its rotating presidency is intended to coordinate policy rather than exert influence over the inclusion of sovereign states. Russia, a key BRICS partner with South Africa, views the latter’s presence as essential for ensuring that African interests remain a fixture of the international financial agenda. This friction follows the 2025 Johannesburg summit, where South Africa hosted the first-ever G20 leaders' meeting on African soil, producing a 122-paragraph declaration on debt and climate policy despite previous boycotts from the Trump administration.