South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Washington’s decision to not invite his nation to next year’s G20 summit in the US was “regrettable,” the latest sign of fraying bilateral ties.
US President Donald Trump’s decision came after he boycotted this month’s G20 gathering in Johannesburg over accusations that Pretoria is responsible for a “genocide” of white South Africans. Experts have rejected those claims.
Trump said next year’s summit — due to be hosted at a resort he owns, raising conflict-of-interest fears — would be invite only, prompting worries among the bloc’s members that only those friendly with him would be summoned: The G20 “should not be made smaller without good reason,” the German chancellor said.