ASHEVILLE: The United States’ move to welcome Russia back to a meeting of G20 countries on Monday while denying some journalists access to the gathering dismayed some finance leaders present, deflecting from its bid to focus talks on global economic growth.
The two-day meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, comes as the global economy is being buffeted by an energy shock triggered by the Iran war, faces rising tensions over China’s huge goods trade surplus and is braced for how an investment surge in AI will ultimately play out.
As U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent opened the meeting, some ministers were surprised and dismayed to see Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov sitting at the G20 table, the first time they had attended the forum in person since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski told Reuters he was unhappy to see Russia represented, although he recognised the right of G20 hosts to invite guests.
“We do not trust Russia. They lie constantly and you need to be really, really cautious while discussing with them,” he told Reuters in an interview, stressing that Russia was the aggressor in its conflict with Ukraine.
“So for me it would be very difficult to have any kind of conversation with Russia.”
Siluanov also held a bilateral meeting with Bessent that covered financial cooperation within the G20 framework, Russia’s finance ministry said. A U.S. official said the focus of that meeting was on President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine. A source familiar with the discussions said Bessent told Siluanov no economic relief for Russia or agreements on other issues were possible until the war ends.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said Europe was preparing a further package of sanctions against Russia, but Siluanov’s presence at the Asheville meeting sent a “quite troubling” signal for U.S. cooperation with the effort.
“I would have wanted greater clarity from the American side that he should not be received here as a normal guest,” Klingbeil said.
European officials also said they opposed appearing in the traditional “family photo” of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, adding that this ultimately was taken without Siluanov.
His appearance marks a stark contrast from April 2022, when even his virtual participation in a G20 meeting in Washington drew broad condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and prompted a walkout by officials from the U.S., Britain, Canada and the European Central Bank.
