Brazil calls for U.N. overhaul at meeting of G20 ministers in Rio

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks while Brazil’s Finance Minister Fernando Haddad and Brazil’s Central Bank President Roberto Campos Neto look on during the meeting of the opening of the G20 sherpa and finance tracks joint session in Brasilia at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, Brazil December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

By Lisandra Paraguassu and Anthony Boadle

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -Brazil opened a conference of foreign ministers from the G20 group of nations on Wednesday by blaming the United Nations and other multinational bodies for failing to stop mounting wars and conflicts that are killing innocent people.

Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira called for “profound reform” of global governance as Brazil’s top priority for its presidency this year of the group of the world’s largest economies.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during the meeting of the opening of the G20 sherpa and finance tracks joint session in Brasilia at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, Brazil December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

“Multilateral institutions are not adequately equipped to deal with current challenges, as demonstrated by the Security Council’s unacceptable paralysis in relation to ongoing conflicts,” Vieira said at the opening of a two-day meeting to prepare the agenda for the G20 annual summit in November.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s Finance Minister Fernando Haddad and Brazil’s Central Bank President Roberto Campos Neto attend the meeting of the opening of the G20 sherpa and finance tracks joint session in Brasilia at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, Brazil December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

“This state of inaction results in the loss of innocent lives,” he said.

Ministers from the G20 nations, including the United States and Russia, began a free discussion of current world tensions and ways to improve multilateral organizations — a priority set by Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, along with curbing climate change and reducing poverty.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks to Brazil’s Finance Minister Fernando Haddad as Brazil’s Central Bank President Roberto Campos Neto looks on during the meeting of the opening of the G20 sherpa and finance tracks joint session in Brasilia at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, Brazil December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

But with continued fighting between Russia and Ukraine and the war in Gaza, diplomats are not optimistic that proposals to upgrade global governance will advance easily within the G20.

Ambassador Mauricio Lyrio, Secretary of Economic and Financial Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Sherpa of the G20 of Brazil, talks during a news conference ahead the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, February 20, 2024. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Lula in Brasilia on his way to the Rio meeting and expressed U.S. support for Brazil’s agenda to make global governance more effective, spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.

The top U.S. diplomat discussed the conflict in Gaza with Lula, amid a diplomatic spat after the Brazilian leader likened Israel’s war in Gaza to the Nazi genocide during World War Two.

Lula has criticized the United Nations for failing to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, and his accusations last week of atrocities by Israel in Gaza triggered a diplomatic crisis with an Israeli reprimand and Brazil recalling its ambassador.

Brazil does not accept a world in which differences are resolved through the use of military force, Vieira said.

“A very significant portion of the world has made a choice for peace and does not accept being involved in conflicts driven by other nations,” he said.

Brazil’s G20 sherpa, diplomat Mauricio Lyrio, said on Tuesday that the lack of effective global governance to deal with the world’s challenges has led to an unprecedented proliferation of conflicts.

Lyrio said there was growing consensus on the need to overhaul the United Nations, where Brazil has advocated the expansion of the Security Council, a proposal that has not advanced due to the resistance of nations with veto power.

“This meeting will essentially be a venting session to build the case for multilateral reform and diagnosing the problem,” a European diplomat told Reuters.

Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov faced each other across the table for the first time since they spoke briefly face-to-face at last year’s foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi. No meeting was planned between the two men.

As an innovation, Brazil will propose holding a second G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in September during the U.N. General Assembly in New York to advance talks on global governance, Lyrio said, with all U.N. member states invited to take part.

The G20 represents around 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle and Lisandra Paraguassu; Additional reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Brad Haynes, Alistair Bell, Chizu Nomiyama and Daniel Wallis)