Protests mar G20 summit in Germany
06 Jul 2017- Far-left protesters wrought chaos in Hamburg Friday ahead of US President Donald Trump's first face-to-face talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin at a G20 summit.
US First Lady Melania Trump was blocked at her residence as demonstrators torched cars, smashed shop windows, fired flares at police helicopters and even slashed tires of vehicles belonging to the Canadian delegation, AFP reported.
The violence forced Hamburg police to call in reinforcements from other German states, and G20 organizers to drastically curtail an official program for spouses of visiting dignitaries.
Tension and uncertainty were running high within the heavily-guarded conference hall, where the leaders of the world's biggest economies struggled with a rift between Trump's US and its European allies over climate change and trade.
Meeting for the first time, Trump and Putin shook hands on arrival a couple of hours ahead of keenly-awaited bilateral talks freighted with planetary consequences.
Their meeting, say analysts, could sway issues ranging from the North Korean crisis and conflicts in Syria and Ukraine to US-Russian disarmament treaties, world trade and global warming.
Trump's "America First" approach on trade and his climate-skeptic stance are straining relations with longstanding allies, especially in Europe.
And his tough response to North Korea's missile program – an issue where Russia and China are urging calm – throws a further volatile ingredient into the mix.
In a key speech in Warsaw on Thursday, Trump fired a rare salvo of criticism at Russia, but did not name Putin specifically.
"We urge Russia to cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere… to instead join the community of responsible nations in our fight against common enemies and in defense of civilization itself," he said.
Beyond the complex diplomatic waltz, the US leader also faces tough talks in the main G20 conference room, where a united front is forming against his dismissive attitude to global warming.
Trump may have vowed to pull the US out of the 2015 Paris climate accord, but G20 host German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that "many many other countries want to go on implementing" it.
"We are not going to paper over the differences but rather, we will call discord discord," said Merkel.
British Prime Minister Theresa May, meanwhile, said world leaders will redouble efforts over the two-day summit to persuade Trump to rejoin the Paris deal.
"I believe the collective message that will be given to President Trump around this table will be the importance of America coming back into that agreement, and I hope we will be able to work to ensure that can happen," she said.