JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Leaders from the Group of 20 countries will meet for a summit in South Africa this weekend without any U.S. representatives after President Donald Trump announced a boycott over his widely rejected claims that the host country is persecuting its Afrikaner white minority.

Trump’s decision to pull the United States — and himself — out of the talks in Johannesburg is likely to undermine the first G20 leaders’ meeting in Africa, as well as South Africa’s aim to push for progress on issues affecting poor countries, such as the impact of climate change, the cost of green energy transition and spiraling sovereign debt levels.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping also won’t attend as he cuts back on international travel, meaning the heads of the world’s two biggest economies will skip a

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