U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Johannesburg on Friday for the opening of the G20 summit, where he was welcomed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa ahead of a weekend of high-stakes talks.
Starmer received an energetic greeting from local performers after landing, marking his first visit to South Africa as prime minister.
But Africa’s first-ever G20 leaders’ summit is already overshadowed by controversy: U.S. President Donald Trump has boycotted the gathering, withdrawing all American participation over his disputed claims that South Africa persecutes its white Afrikaner minority. The decision removes one of the world’s most influential players from the table and threatens to undermine South Africa’s efforts to rally support for issues affecting poorer nations — including climate funding, the soaring cost of the green energy transition, and mounting sovereign debt.
Compounding the absence of the United States, China’s President Xi Jinping is also missing the summit as he scales back international travel — meaning the leaders of the world’s two largest economies will not attend a meeting designed to bridge the divide between developed and developing nations.
Despite the void left by Washington and Beijing, the summit still brings together representatives from 42 countries, including all members of the expanded G20, which now includes both the European Union and African Union.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told parliament on Tuesday that he had raised the “ongoing and utterly horrifying situation in Sudan” during the G20 summit in South Africa this weekend.
Starmer told MPs he was working with other nations to “break restrictions on humanitarian aid and demand accountability.”
He called for “global pressure to stop the slaughter”and achieve a “sustained” ceasefire.
The UK leader said the aim was to “deliver a transition to civilian rule” in Sudan.
The United Kingdom is under particular pressure to stop the bloodshed in Sudan as the official penholder for the country within the United Nations Security Council.
The British government is also facing accusations of UK military equipment being used by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The UN Security Council received material in June 2024 and March 2025 alleging that the United Arab Emirates may have supplied British-made items to the RSF, according to the Guardian. But the newspaper reported that the British government approved further exports of similar military equipment to the Gulf state.
Several parties, including the Liberal Democrats, have called for the UK to stop selling arms to the UAE.
The UAE has repeatedly denied allegations it gives military support to the RSF.
Earlier in November, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said atrocities perpetrated by the RSF in El-Fasher “may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
