By Jeff Mason ROME (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden told Turkey s President Tayyip Erdogan his request for F-16 fighter jets had to go through a process in the United States and expressed a desire to handle disagreements between the two countries effectively. Days after the NATO allies climbed down from the brink of a diplomatic crisis over jailed philanthropist Osman Kavala, Biden and Erdogan held a 70-minute meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, where Biden also raised the issue of human rights, a U.S. senior administration official told reporters. A different U.S. administration official said on Saturday that Biden would warn the Turkish leader that any precipitous actions would not benefit U.S.-Turkish relations and that crises should be avoided after Erdogan threatened to throw out the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and other foreign envoys for seeking the release of Kavala. Erdogan later withdrew his threat to expel the envoys. President Biden reaffirmed our defense p
ROME (Reuters) - The leaders of the Group of 20 major economies have reached an agreement on the wording of the final communique which will be released at the end of their two-day summit, a G20 official told Reuters on Sunday. Further details were not immediately available. Diplomats have been negotiating hard-to-bridge differences on how to tackle global warming, with phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies, ending coal power and a firm date for achieving net zero carbon emissions among the main sticking points, sources said earlier on Sunday. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski and Gavin Jones, editing by Crispian Balmer)
By Kanishka Singh and Jonathan Landay (Reuters) -The United States was absolutely in lock step with Britain, Germany and France on getting Iran back into a nuclear deal, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday, but he added it was unclear if Tehran was willing to rejoin the talks in a meaningful way. Blinken s remarks in an interview with CNN on Sunday come a day after the United States, Germany, France and Britain urged Iran to resume compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal in order to avoid a dangerous escalation. The accord, under which Iran curtailed nuclear work seen as a risk of developing nuclear weapons in exchange for a lifting of global sanctions, unraveled in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States, prompting Tehran to breach limits on uranium enrichment set by the pact. It really depends on whether Iran is serious about doing that, Blinken said on Iran rejoining the nuclear talks. All of our countries, working by the way with Russia and China,
ROME (Reuters) - World leaders tossed coins into Rome s Trevi Fountain on Sunday - some doubtless seeking happiness - in a tradition for visitors to the Italian capital that dates back hundreds of years. Legend says that if you throw a coin by the right hand over the left shoulder into the fountain, you will return to Rome. Most of the leaders taking part in the photo opportunity on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20 world s largest economies just tossed the coin over their right shoulder. Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who lives in Rome, stayed motionless, while U.S. President Joe Biden skipped the event. Tradition says tossing a coin into Trevi Fountain ensures a return to Rome. But going through my mind was the need for the world to return to the way it was pre-COVID19, World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on Twitter. The leaders were handed one euro coins specially minted for the occasion, showing Leonardo da Vinci s Vetruvian man, the symbol of I
By Gavin Jones and Jan Strupczewski ROME (Reuters) - Leaders of the Group of 20 major economies agreed on a final statement on Sunday that urges meaningful and effective action to limit global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius but offers few concrete commitments. The result of days of tough negotiation among diplomats leaves huge work to be done at a broader United Nations climate summit in Scotland, to where most of the G20 leaders will fly directly from Rome. The G20 bloc, which includes Brazil, China, India, Germany and the United States, accounts for an estimated 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The final document says current national plans on how to curb emissions will have to be strengthened if necessary and makes no specific reference to 2050 as a date to achieve net zero carbon emissions. We recognize that the impacts of climate change at 1.5°C are much lower than at 2°C. Keeping 1.5°C within reach will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all coun