World leaders prepare to wrap up G-20 meeting in China

The political backlash over global trade is the backdrop to the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, and Chinese President Xi Jinping began with a plea against protectionism.

North Korea added to the drama by firing three ballistic missiles off its east coast on Monday. A communique is to be issued before the meeting wraps up later on Monday. Beijing said it hoped relevant parties would avoid taking any actions that would escalate tensions.

President Obama sat down with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in China on Monday, in a meeting that covered a laundry list of hot-button issues, from cyber attacks on the U.S.to the civil war in Syria and ongoing hostilities in Ukraine.

Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart had attempted a similar negotiation earlier, but that effort failed as well.

The joint statement calls for formation of a steel forum under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to study excess production capacity.

The impact has also been felt on steel producers in Australia.

“Despite everything, we have some alignment of positions and an understanding of what we could do to de-escalate the situation in Syria”, he told a press conference following the G20 summit in China.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel chats with President Barack Obama during the opening ceremony of the G-20 Leaders Summit on September 4, 2016, in Hangzhou, China. “Obviously it has something to do with the refugee question”.

In China, Erdogan said he told all world leaders at the Antalya summit a year ago that “in Syria a safe zone could be set up. and we could solve the refugee crisis”. One of the few areas where there was progress was in protecting the environment.

British Prime Minister Theresa May, who took office after the referendum, tried to reassure other governments Britain was not isolating itself.

“This discussion goes to the heart of how we build an economy that works for everyone”. “Only through reforms in line with the changing realities can the G20 retain its vitality”, said Xi.

“What we can not do is have a situation where this becomes the wild, wild West, where countries that have significant cyber capacity start engaging in unhealthy competition or conflict through these means”, the president said.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he plans to advocate for trade and “cut through the noise” of the election season.

It got off to a rocky start Saturday when there was no staircase at the airport for Obama’s plane. Obama and other USA officials would like to see Russian Federation focus on what Obama referred to as “common enemies”, naming the Islamic State militants and the Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate. Kerry has said the United States won’t accept just any deal just to have it collapse again.