2013 G-20 Russia summit

2013 G20 Russia summit
Logo of the G20 Russia 2013 summit
Host country	Russia
Date	5–6 September
Venue(s)	Constantine Palace
Cities	Saint Petersburg
Participants	G20 members Guest invitees: Brunei, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Senegal, Spain, Singapore, Switzerland
Follows	2012 G20 Los Cabos summit
Precedes	2014 G20 Brisbane summit
Website	Russia G20

The 2013 G20 Saint Petersburg summit was the eighth meeting of the G20 heads of government/heads of state. The hosting venue was the Constantine Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on 5–6 September 2013.

The summit was dominated by questions regarding the Syrian civil war and any potential international reaction to the Ghouta chemical attacks. The summit came after U.S.-led efforts to obtain a UN Security Council resolution authorising military strikes against the Assad government had failed due to Russian and Chinese opposition. The House of Commons of the United Kingdom had defeated a motion regarding UK involvement in any strike on 30 August and U.S. politicians were debating potential action as the summit was ongoing.

Media billed the summit as a contest between U.S. President Barack Obama, trying to garner support for military action, and Russian President Vladimir Putin in opposition to any such action. 11 countries signed a U.S.-authored statement blaming and condemning the Assad government for the attacks and calling for a "strong international response".

Russia, as this year's chair, hosted the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors' meeting in Moscow on 15 and 16 February 2013. While preparing for the September summit, the most pressing subject addressed – "desperately" according to Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty – was protectionist actions such as competitive devaluations. Japan, represented by finance minister Taro Aso, "escape[d] criticism" for the 20% drop in the yen that had stemmed from its recent reflationary policies. The "nations declared ... there would be no currency war and deferred plans to set new debt-cutting targets, underlining broad concern about the fragile state of the world economy", per Reuters.