#SaudiArabia Floats Plan to Delay G-20 Summit Until December - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia Floats Plan to Delay G-20 Summit Until December - Bloomberg:

Saudi Arabia has informally asked Italy to delay the Group of 20 leaders’ summit until December, according to two senior officials with knowledge of the discussions with Riyadh.

The meeting is currently scheduled to take place in the Saudi capital on Nov. 21 and 22, before the G-20 mantle passes to Italy on Dec. 1. The request would mean delaying the start of Italy’s presidency, the officials said, asking not to be identified discussing private conversations.

One of the officials said that the Italian government is flexible and could agree to have the summit in December but not further into its presidency. Discussions between the Italian and Saudi governments are ongoing and a final decision has yet to be taken, said one of the officials. A diplomat from one other G-20 country also said that they had heard about the request.

A spokesman for the Saudis’ G-20 secretariat said by email that Italy will be taking over the presidency as planned at the start of December and the summit will take place in November in line with the original schedule.