Johannesburg: South Africa will hand over the G20 presidency to the US 'at an appropriate level,' according to the country's foreign minister. The announcement follows a diplomatic rift sparked by US President Donald Trump's decision to skip the G20 leaders' summit in Johannesburg on November 22-23.

According to Anadolu Agency, the absence of the US at the summit has complicated the traditional handover ceremony, as South Africa is set to pass the G20 presidency to the United States. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa suggested that discussions were ongoing, hinting at a possible change of heart from the US. However, the White House quickly denied these claims.

The summit commenced without US representation, despite the nation being next in line for the G20 presidency. South Africa's Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola stated at a press conference during the summit that the US preferred a handover facilitated by the charge d'affaires of its embassy in South Africa.

Lamola emphasized the importance of conducting the handover at a higher diplomatic level, either with a head of state or a minister duly appointed by the US President. He indicated that since the US assigned a charge d'affaires, South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) would conduct the handover at its offices starting Monday.

Lamola assured that this approach would not strain diplomatic relations and that South Africa would ensure the handover respects diplomatic equivalency. He maintained that the South African president would not conduct a handover to a charge d'affaires during a summit attended by numerous heads of state.

The tensions escalated earlier this month when Trump announced he would not dispatch an American official to the Johannesburg summit, citing alleged human rights abuses against white Afrikaners in South Africa. These claims have been consistently dismissed by the South African government as baseless. The disagreement has further deepened the rift between Washington and Pretoria over various policy issues.

The G20, established in 1999, includes 19 countries and two regional entities, the European Union and the African Union.