Diplomacy

The United Nations General Assembly convenes on Tuesday in the shadow of the second year of war in Ukraine, amid a series of climate related catastrophes and at a time of increasing divisions in the world that will hamper efforts to address the litany of problems contributing to the strains.

Ukraine called the joint declaration that came out of the G20 Leaders' Summit this weekend 'nothing to be proud of,' after the document failed to label Russia as an aggressor in the war, but banned the use of nukes. 

The G20 leaders, including President Joe Biden and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, standing in for Russian President Vladimir Putin, were gathered in New Delhi for the annual meeting. 

The G20 summit in New Delhi ended on Sunday as India handed over the bloc presidency to Brazil, while both the U.S. and Russia praised a consensus that did not condemn Moscow for the war in Ukraine but called on members to shun the use of force.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the group's leaders to hold a virtual meeting in November to review progress on policy suggestions and goals announced at the weekend.

"It is our responsibility to look at the suggestions that have been made to see how progress can be accelerated," he said in a statement.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi touted his country as well-placed to bridge gaps in the Group of 20 top economies and solve global problems, but many were skeptical ahead of the weekend’s summit given grave divisions within the bloc over the Russia’s war in Ukraine.

He was able to dispel those doubts, announcing a unanimous final agreement a day before the G20 summit ended Sunday that included language on the European war which both Russia and China signed off on.

President Joe Biden’s visit to Vietnam this weekend may be short, but it has major implications for American efforts to push back against China.

Vietnam, a one-party communist state that borders China, has emerged as one of the United States’ most important partners in Southeast Asia, a region on the front line of the competition between the world’s two largest economies.

In the third high-level U.S. official visit to China in about a month, U.S. special envoy for climate John Kerry emphasized efforts to stabilize the bilateral relationship.

“Now we’re in a place where because of the efforts of President Biden and President Xi to try to stabilize the relationship, we can now I hope, make progress between now and the meeting in the UAE, in December, of COP 28,” Kerry said Tuesday, in opening remarks at a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

John Kerry, the US climate envoy, has called for more rapid action to confront the climate crisis in a crucial visit to China that is taking place against a fraught backdrop, with both countries currently baking under record heatwaves and Kerry facing hostile opposition from Republicans back home.

Special Climate Envoy John Kerry arrived in China Sunday ahead of planned "in-depth" talks on climate change with the country's communist government.

"We need genuine cooperation," Kerry said ahead of the trip last week, according to the New York Times. "China and the United States are the two largest economies in the world and we’re also the two largest emitters. It’s clear that we have a special responsibility to find common ground."

The Biden administration has quietly restarted talks with Iran in a bid to win the release of American prisoners held by Tehran and curb the country’s growing nuclear program, people close to the discussions said.

As contacts between the two sides resumed, Washington also approved 2.5 billion euros, equivalent to $2.7 billion, in payments by the Iraqi government for Iranian electricity and gas imports, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. The money had been frozen by U.S. economic sanctions.

When the U.S. embassy in Havana reopened last May to Cubans seeking visas after a nearly five-year hiatus, the once proud 1950s vintage building was in shambles.

Pieces of its stone facade were crumbling from top floors, threatening passersby. A rusty perimeter fence, decrepit and obsolete, wobbled with the trade winds. Hurricane Irma had damaged lower windows, a guard post, and granite facing. Even the ambassador's dramatic perch - a balcony overlooking the Gulf of Mexico - was deemed unsafe.