Brazil has put the Bermuda triangle of international diplomacy – reform of the United Nations and other multilateral bodies – at the heart of its presidency of the G20, arguing that the war in Gaza and shifts in the economic power balance finally make change possible.
A two-day meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Rio de Janeiro heard a blunt attack by the UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, on the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, over the invasion of Ukraine.
But Brazil said it was trying to steer the G20 away from blame games to solutions. Brazil’s top diplomat, Mauro Vieira, said the explosion of global conflicts showed that international institutions such as the UN suffered from paralysis.
Mauricio Carvalho Lyrio, the Brazilian sherpa at the G20, said the world was facing 183 conflicts and was currently only putting out fires. “The idea is that we have an effective reform of the UN so that it really is an effective instrument to prevent conflicts from occurring,” he said.
www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/22/brazil-urges-united-nations-reform-g20