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G20 summit: Leaders pledge to grow their economies by 2.1%

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has closed the G20 summit by detailing

economic pledges agreed by world leaders.

The leaders agreed to boost their economies by at least 2.1% by 2018, adding $2

trillion to global economies.

Much of the summit focused on Russian President Vladimir Putin's position on

the crisis in Ukraine.

Mr Putin faced fierce criticism and left the meeting before it ended, but said

the summit was "constructive".

Mr Putin said he was leaving before the release of the official communique,

citing the long flight to home to Russia and the need for sleep.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders at the G20 Summit in

Brisbane, Australia, 15 November 2014 President Putin faced a frosty reception

from Western leaders at the G20 meeting

'Violating international law'

Australia, as host of the meeting, had sought to keep the focus on economic

issues, but the issues of climate change and the conflict in Ukraine attracted

significant attention.

US President Barack Obama met European leaders on Sunday to discuss a

co-ordinated response to what they see as Russia's destabilisation of Ukraine.

Mr Obama told reporters Mr Putin was "violating international law, providing

heavy arms to the separatists in Ukraine" and violating the Minsk agreement.

He said the "economic isolation" of Russia would continue unless Mr Putin

changed course.

In a television interview on Saturday, Mr Putin called for an end to sanctions

against Russia, saying they harmed the world economy as well as Russia.

The Kremlin denies sending military forces or heavy weapons to pro-Russia

rebels in eastern Ukraine.

During the summit, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and British Prime

Minister David Cameron also sharply criticised Mr Putin.

Millions of jobs

US President Barack Obama, centre, and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff,

right, walk off stage with other world leaders after the G20 Summit family

photo in Brisbane, Australia, on 15 November 2014 The G20 groups leaders from

rich and emerging economies

World leaders agreed to plans drawn up by finance ministers from G20 countries

in February, known as the Brisbane Action Plan, to boost their collective GDP

growth by at least 2%.

This is a pretty ambitious target for many G20 economies that are struggling

with recession or very little growth, says the BBC's James Landale from

Brisbane.

In his speech, Mr Abbott said those reforms would create millions of jobs. He

also outlined plans to increase the participation of women in the global

workforce, and to crack down on tax avoidance by multi-national companies.

What is the point of the G20 summit? In 90 seconds

The statement also agreed to take strong, effective action on climate change,

following pressure from the US and European leaders.

Mr Abbott had faced criticism from environmental campaigners for not including

talks on climate change in the summit.

In other developments, President Obama met the leaders of Japan and Australia

on the sidelines of the summit and they called for the peaceful resolution of

maritime disputes in the South China Sea.

G20 leaders also released a statement in which they vowed to do all they could

to "extinguish" the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

It said that member states were committed to do what was necessary "to ensure

the international effort can extinguish the outbreak and address its

medium-term economic and humanitarian costs".

World leaders and their spouses were given koalas to hold on the fringes of the

summit - the animals are native to Australia

First protected by law in the 1930s after being hunted to extinction by fur

traders in parts of Australia; declared a threatened species in 2012

Species recently severely affected by chlamydia, which can cause blindness,

infertility and death among the animals

Began being used as a diplomatic tool in early 1980s, after government lifts

export ban - they are often given to foreign zoos as gifts

They are not bears, but are marsupials