00:00As Johannesburg gears up to host this weekend's G20 Summit of Rich and Developing Nations,
00:06the U.S. has once again said that it won't participate.
00:10On Thursday, the White House responded to comments by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa
00:16that Washington had changed its mind.
00:19Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said that the U.S. would send a diplomatic delegation
00:23to the handover ceremony at the end of the event, but won't participate in talks.
00:29U.S. President Trump has cited his claims that South Africa is violently persecuting
00:34the country's white Afrikaner minority farmers as the reason for the U.S. boycott.
00:41Those claims have been widely rejected.
00:43President Ramaphosa has insisted that the summit will issue a joint declaration,
00:48despite pressure from Washington not to do so.
00:51Ramaphosa said he regretted America's absence, but insisted that those participating in the summit
00:57will not agree to be bullied.
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