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2014-11-17 12:10:55
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