Argentina's Milei pivots to pragmatism in first talks with China's Xi after playing spoiler at G20

LA PAZ, Boliva — Last year, then-presidential candidate Javier Milei declared Argentina would not “make deals with communists” in China or Brazil, calling their leaders “murderers” and “thieves” in a bid to channel the populist energies of Donald Trump and other global far-right icons into a winning political message.

But Tuesday, President Milei found himself at the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro shaking hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping and vowing to boost trade with the Asian powerhouse, a day after his economy minister signed a preliminary agreement to export Argentine natural gas to Brazil.

Milei even acquiesced to a joint declaration endorsed by world leaders late Monday despite his earlier attempts to play spoiler to the G20 host, Brazil’s left-wing president Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva who was once called by Milei a “corrupt communist."

The final moments of the high-profile summit Tuesday revealed Milei's more pragmatic streak, coming as a surprise after the irascible president sought to undercut various international initiatives — withdrawing Argentine negotiators from the U.N. climate summit, casting the only “no” votes on two U.N. resolutions, one supporting Indigenous rights and another advocating for an end to violence against women, and roiling negotiations at the G20 summit.

Argentine resistance to the joint G20 communiqué in the past few days focused on clauses related to the taxation of the super-rich and regulation of online speech, diplomats said. Argentine delegates also sought to block language about gender equality and references to the U.N. 2030 agenda on sustainable development, which Milei has decried as socialist.

Critics saw the Argentine president as a saboteur. Supporters cheered Milei as a leader of the “new world disorder.” Fresh off a trip to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida where he ranted against socialism and rubbed shoulders with the president-elect and tech billionaire Elon Musk, Milei initially seemed immune to such concerns in Rio.

Milei's office issued a harsh statement citing his objections to the G20 declaration. But the president ultimately signed onto it under enormous international pressure.

“Argentina is not a great power and it is in a very difficult situation economically," said Roberto Goulart Menezes, a professor of international relations at the University of Brasilia. That pressure, he added, was “enough for Argentina to finally reduce its opposition.”

During Milei's first-ever meeting with President Xi on Tuesday, the leaders discussed their “current trade and financial ties" and “desire to continue exploring new opportunities to expand and improve,” the Argentine presidency said in a statement, along with a photo of the presidents sharing a warm handshake. It said the leaders had invited each other to visit.

With Argentina highly reliant on China as a market for its soybeans and other crops, the cordial tone made clear that the crisis-stricken South American nation has no desire for relations with its second-largest trading partner and crucial financial lifeline to further deteriorate.

A statement from China's foreign ministry said President Xi expressed his appreciation for Milei's “willingness to continue deepening bilateral cooperation," and praised the “friendly relations” between the nations.

China has maintained strategic assets in Argentina, including stakes in lithium mines and a space station in Patagonia. Earlier this year, former Foreign Minister Diana Mondino, whom Milei recently fired, led a successful visit to China to patch up relations strained by Milei's colorful insults ("Would you trade with an assassin?" he asked on the campaign trail last August, while accusing China of killing dissidents).

After her trip, Beijing in June resumed a currency swap deal worth billions of dollars that boosted Argentina’s depleted reserves.

On Monday, as negotiations over the G20 draft grew increasingly tense, Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo and Brazilian Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira signed a memorandum of understanding that offered a new and important source of income to cash-strapped Argentina.

The agreement to work toward shipping 30 million cubic meters of natural gas to Brazil from Argentina’s Vaca Muerta, a vast shale oil and gas field in Patagonia, over the next five years, “might have helped” Milei sign the joint G20 statement, Silveira told reporters.

But it did nothing to dispel the chill between the leaders of South America's largest economies, who have opposite views on climate change, social issues and the role of governments.

A set of official photographs that splashed across the front page of a local newspaper Tuesday showed Lula and other government leaders clasping hands amicably in sharp contrast to the Brazilian leader's photo-op with Milei — both men standing stiffly, a foot apart despite protocol demanding they shake hands, looking like they’d rather be anywhere else in the world.

As with Lula, Milei alienated major trading partners like Spain and Colombia by attacking their leftist leaders this year. Some experts fear that Trump's election has further emboldened Milei and other far-right political figures to abandon U.N. commitments and ambitious multilateral agreements on issues like climate change.

“Milei has already taken a pro-Trump stance, thinking ... that the G20 could be emptied by President Trump," said Goulart Menezes, the international relations expert.

Yet, he cautioned that “making Argentina’s foreign policy conditional on the future president of the United States” carries risks.

“Argentina is putting itself in a position of international isolation," he said.

Indeed, at the traditional G20 family photo — taken for a second time Tuesday because U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau failed to show up to the first due to a scheduling mishap — Milei was the only leader missing.

There would be no third attempt.