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G20 summit in Hamburg to wrap up with discussions on Africa, digital economy

Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in both working sessions and will also hold a range of bilateral talks

HAMBURG, July 8. /TASS/. The summit of the G20 leaders ends in Hamburg on Saturday. Participants in it are expected to discuss the issues of sustained development, aide to Africa, the problems of digital economy, and unemployment.

It is believed that the participating countries will issue a declaration, the drafting of which will continue up to the last moment, while Angela Merkel, the Germany’s Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel will tell reporters about the results of two-day consultations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in both working sessions and will also hold a range of bilateral talks. In addition to it, included in his agenda is a trilateral meeting with French President Emanuel Macron and Angela Merkel where they will discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine and progress in the implementation of the Minsk accords.

The formulations that the country leaders eventually manage to coordinate on climate change with regard to the U.S. position pending Washington’s decision to pull out of the Paris treaty on climate change remain the biggest intrigue of the summit.

One of the options is to reflect the consolidated position of the nineteen countries and a special opinion of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Negotiations on trade make up one more crucial item on the agenda of the meeting. Charges with protectionism have often been levelled at Trump in the past. They left an imprint on the G7 summit in Taormina, Italy, where the delegations still managed to include a provision on counteraction to protections in the final declaration somehow. Whether they will manage to do it this time, too, is not known at the moment.

On Friday, the G20 leaders managed to come to terms on one of the key items on the agenda - they reached agreement on a whole range of aspects of fighting with terrorism. The heads of state and/or government adopted a joint statement where they stressed the G20 readiness to form serried ranks for struggle with the financing of international Islamist groupings, like the Islamic State and Al Qaida.

The summit also took up the problems related to Internet. The leaders said they would put pressure on Internet providers for a prompt removal of content linked to Islamic extremism in one way or another. Angela Merkel said this was a matter of maximum importance.

In this connection she mentioned the exchanges of messages in messengers, saying the law enforcers should have an opportunity to begin inquiries right after they get the first suspicions that a terrorist act may be forthcoming.

Counteraction to the financing of terrorism or to the utilization of tools of any kind for this was one more principle the G20 countries’ leaders spelt out, mentioning simultaneously the importance of compliance with the appropriate resolutions of the UN Security Council.