AKIPRESS.COM - G20 member nations were still struggling to reach agreement on major issues including trade, migration and climate change as world leaders began arriving in the Argentine capital ahead of a summit starting on Friday.

“This is not a good year for multilateralism,” said a German government source about talks on a final statement that the leaders are due to issue at the end of their meeting on Saturday. The negotiations are “very, very difficult,” the official told Reuters.

The official offered no details on the points of dispute, but global trade tensions, fueled by President Donald Trump’s launch of a trade war against China, are expected to dominate this year’s gathering of the Group of 20, an unwieldy club of the world’s industrialized countries.

Trump’s skepticism that global warming is caused by human activity also raised questions about what the statement will say on the issue.

Trump also abruptly canceled his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin two days before they were scheduled to sit down on the sidelines of the G20 summit. Trump pinned the cancellation on Russia's refusal to release Ukrainian Navy ships and sailors seized during a maritime confrontation between the two countries on Sunday.

The meeting brings together the leaders of the 20 most industrialised nations to discuss topics including trade and climate change.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will miss the opening after technical issues forced her government plane to make an unscheduled but safe landing, German delegation sources said late on Thursday.