Finance ministers and central bankers from the G20 top economies gather in South Africa on Wednesday and Thursday, for a meeting marred by the absence or curtailed attendance of key members and disputes over the main issues of climate, debt and inequality.

Disaster was the word European officials used as Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s long-sought Oval Office meeting with Donald Trump descended into a reality-TV livestream of raised voices and angry bickering.

Following Trump's lead, White House officials and Republicans in Congress used news show appearances to demand that Zelenskyy display more gratitude for U.S. support and an openness to potential war-ending concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin.