Russia's war in Ukraine 'greatest challenge' to global economy: Yellen

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she will express her condemnation of Russia's invasion at the G20 meeting

Russia's war in Ukraine poses the greatest threat to the global economy, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday as G20 ministers prepare to start talks in Indonesia.

Moscow's invasion has sent inflation soaring at a time when the world is struggling to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, endangering the gains of the past two years and threatening widespread hunger and poverty.

"We are seeing negative spillover effects from that war in every corner of the world, particularly with respect to higher energy prices, and rising food insecurity," she added.

Yellen said she will continue to press G20 allies at the meeting for a price cap on Russian oil to choke off Putin's war chest and pressure Moscow to end its invasion while bringing down energy costs.

She expressed hope that India and China would join such a cap, saying it "would serve their own interests" to put downward pressure on prices for consumers across the world.

"It cannot be business as usual," she said. "I can tell you that I can certainly expect to express in the strongest possible terms my views on Russia's invasion... to talk about its impact on Ukraine and the entire global economy and to condemn it."

- Global outlook 'darkened' -

Yellen's comments echo the head of the International Monetary Fund, who said Wednesday that the global economic outlook had "darkened significantly" because of Moscow's invasion, just months after it revised down its global growth forecast for 2022 and 2023.

The risk of "social instability" was also increasing because of rising food and energy prices, she wrote.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called it a "ray of hope to ease human suffering and alleviate hunger around the world" ahead of another planned round of talks next week.

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