G-20 Rome live updates: Biden meets with Turkey’s Erdogan as summit focuses on climate

President Biden began his second full day at the Group of 20 summit with a bilateral meeting Sunday morning with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.

The meeting on the sidelines of the summit comes amid rising tensions with the U.S. ally over threats to expel diplomats, including the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, and Ankara’s acquisition of a sophisticated Russian-made air defense system.

In a brief photo opportunity ahead of the meeting, Biden declined to comment on the substance of his sit-down with Erdogan, telling reporters: “We’re planning to have a good conversation.”

A senior administration official who previewed the meeting to reporters on Saturday said the threats and the weapons systems would be discussed, in addition to issues related to Syria and Libya. Turkey’s desire to acquire American-made F16s will also be discussed, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss delicate diplomatic conversations.

Erdogan recently threatened to expel 10 ambassadors, including from the United States, France, Canada and the Netherlands, because their embassies signed a letter calling for the release of Osman Kavala, a philanthropist and civil society activist. Erdogan backed off the threat after the embassies released statements committing not to interfere in Turkey’s internal affairs.

The U.S. official said that if Erdogan had followed through, the bilateral meeting would have been in jeopardy. “I’m not actually even sure we would have had the meeting if he had gone ahead and expelled,” the official said.

“Certainly, the president will indicate that we need to find a way to avoid crises like that one going forward,” the official said about the threat. “Precipitous action is not going to benefit the U.S.-Turkey partnership and alliance.”

Erdogan said last week that he expected to meet Biden on the sidelines of the climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, rather than Rome, and that he would discuss issues related to Turkey’s suspension from the international program that builds the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet.

The United States removed Turkey from the program in 2019, after Ankara purchased the Russian air defense system, known as the S-400. Turkey has said it is owed $1.4 billion it paid for F-35s it was later blocked from buying.

Despite the recent tension, Biden and Erdogan were seen speaking several times Saturday. The two men chatted as leaders posed for the “family photo” of G-20 principals. Then they were seen huddling with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson just before the opening session of the summit.

Biden also had a “brief” meeting Saturday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the administration official said. It was an “opportunity” for Biden to speak with Scholz, who is trying to form a government and step in as Merkel’s successor.

Prince Charles, the heir apparent to the British throne, has secured top billing at the G-20 Summit in Rome on Sunday. He was invited to speak to the world leaders by Italian Prime Minister Draghi in recognition of his many decades highlighting the environmental crisis wrought by climate change.

The 72-year-old royal will tell the G-20 that while more action is needed to slow the trajectory toward catastrophic warming, “I am at last sensing a change in attitudes and the buildup of positive momentum.”

He will ask his audience to consider their “overwhelming responsibility to generations yet unborn.”

The prince is expected to say, “It is impossible not to hear the despairing voices of young people who see you as the stewards of the planet, holding the viability of their future in your hands.”

Charles is also scheduled to address the COP26 climate summit on Monday in Glasgow, where he and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are among the keynote speakers.

Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, canceled her planned attendance at the climate summit after the 95-year-old monarch was advised to rest by doctors. But appearing along with Charles will be his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; his son Prince William; and his daughter-in-law Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.

GLASGOW — Greta Thunberg may not have been officially invited to the landmark COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, but on the first official day of the conference, she was making her presence known.

The Swedish teenager, who is something of a rock star for climate activists around the world, was quickly surrounded by about a hundred people when she arrived at the Glasgow train station Saturday evening. Several police officers escorted her away from the throng.

“Finally in Glasgow for the COP26! And thank you for the very warm welcome,” tweeted the 18-year-old who included a picture of her giving a thumbs-up to the assembled crowd. Scotland’s Sunday Mail newspaper dubbed the scene: “Greta Mania.”

Rich countries are three years behind schedule in fulfilling their goal of providing $100 billion annually to help developing nations curb their greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change, according to a report from the Canadian and German governments.

The failure of rich countries to meet the goal has fed mistrust among developing nations, which historically have done less to fuel climate change but are disproportionately vulnerable to its consequences.

The issue is expected to come up for discussion at the G-20 summit on Sunday and to be a major sticking point at the COP26 climate conference, where slowing the world’s warming will depend on good faith and collective action. Many developing nations have said their climate pledges are conditional on receiving outside support.

Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa, a Nairobi-based think tank, said the inability of rich countries to keep their promise is “utterly shameful.”

“Poor nations will not be conned,” he said, “and the leaders of the developed world need to pull their finger out and get this money on the table if COP26 is going to be a success.”

Eddy Pérez, international climate diplomacy manager for Climate Action Network Canada, said that while the “level of honesty” from rich countries about missing their collective target is welcome, the gap is “unacceptable.”

“The question today is: Does this document actually show the urgency that it is for rich countries to massively scale up climate finance flows during the COP … and the clear answer is no,” he said. “The message that is coming from this document is you need to wait until 2023 to see if we will be able to deliver the $100 billion.”

The report doesn’t name and shame individual countries but says that “all developed countries have to step up efforts.”

Marshaling the funding has been complicated by debates about whether the aid should take the form of loans or grants. Determining how much has been mobilized has been difficult because of a lack of uniformity in how countries account for climate finance.

An analysis last month from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that developed nations contributed $79.6 billion in 2019 — up 2 percent from 2018, but $20 billion short of the promise. Final totals for 2020 aren’t yet available, but officials said it was becoming clear the goal hadn’t been met. The OECD estimates funding ranging from $83 billion to $88 billion this year.

President Biden announced last month at the U.N. General Assembly that he would work with Congress to double U.S. funding provided each year to help low-income nations combat climate change to $11.4 billion by 2024.

President Biden has opened new fronts in global engagement this weekend, endorsing international accords on taxation and vaccinations while joining key European allies in ramping up pressure on Iran to revive the 2015 deal to curb its nuclear program.

The Biden administration also announced during the annual Group of 20 summit that it had reached a deal with the European Union on resolving a bitter standoff over steel and aluminum imports imposed three years ago under President Donald Trump.

Taken together, the moves marked fresh efforts to turn away from Trump’s policies that included withdrawal from key international accords, a snub of the Iran nuclear deal and a range of protectionist trade measures.

Perhaps the most uncertain of the developments is the fate of the nuclear accord that set limits on Iran’s uranium enrichment and other advances in exchange for easing international sanctions. After Trump pulled out in 2018, Iran had announced higher-level enrichment — stirring alarm from the West and its allies — even as Tehran’s leaders insist they do not seek nuclear weapons but want to control nuclear fuel supply for reactors.

Before a formal dinner of the G-20 leaders, President Biden attended a Saturday Vigil Mass at a church in Rome near the U.S. Embassy.

Biden is a regular churchgoer, but his attendance Saturday drew increased attention, coming one day after he met with Pope Francis. After that meeting, Biden told reporters that the pontiff had called him a “good Catholic” and said he should continue to receive Communion.

The Vatican did not provide its own version of events about that aspect of the meeting between Francis and Biden. But Biden’s comments were enough to cause outcry among U.S. Catholic conservatives, some of whom have argued that the president should be barred from the holy sacrament because of his support of abortion rights.

On Saturday, Biden received Communion, said Father Steven Petroff, the rector at St. Patrick’s Church, a mainstay for the American community in Rome, where Mass is conducted in English.

Biden was attending Mass at the same church which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited several weeks ago after her own meeting with the pontiff. In Pelosi’s case, she was forced to leave Mass early because of encroaching protesters rallying against Italy’s mandating a coronavirus vaccination pass for all workers.

Petroff said he wasn’t certain Biden would attend until several hours before Mass.

“It was a bit of a surprise,” Petroff said. “It was very nice.”

Once all the leaders had arrived at the summit site — well, at least those participating in person — it was time for a “family photo,” the first at a Group of 20 gathering in more than two years.

The leaders took their places along three levels of a tiered blue stage. Mario Draghi, as the prime minister of the host country, stood in the center. President Biden stood on the farthest end of one side. Just before the picture was taken, two missing figures — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — darted onto the stage as others made room.

When those pleasantries were over, the leaders welcomed doctors and first responders onto the platform as well, applauding as they joined in.

Afterward, the leaders headed into a large, ovular hall, ringed by flags, where they will begin the formal part of Saturday’s summit.

A handful of Group of 20 heads were missing from the photo. Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia have not flown to Rome, citing the coronavirus, and are instead expected to participate remotely. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is staying home ahead of elections on Sunday. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is also not present, and has sent his foreign minister in his place.