Janet Yellen leads walk out at G20 meeting in protest at Russia
Some others who had joined virtually turned off their cameras when Finance Minister Anton Siluanov started speaking.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and other top finance and central banking officials walked out of a meeting of the group of 20 major economies when the Russian delegation started speaking, laying bare the fracturing among the world’s most powerful economies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov virtually joined the G20 meeting, which is taking place in Washington this week, according to people familiar with the meeting. Along with the officials who walked out of the meeting, some others who had joined virtually turned off their cameras when Mr Siluanov started speaking.
Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, as well as members of the British, Canadian, French, German and EU delegations walked out of the meeting. Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister of Canada who joined the walkout, posted on Twitter a photo of the group that walked out and said that Russia shouldn’t be included in G20 meetings.
“This week’s meetings in Washington are about supporting the world economy – and Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is a grave threat to the global economy. Russia should not be participating or included in these meetings,” Ms Freeland said.
Before she left, Ms Freeland told Russian staffers who attended the meeting in-person that they were complicit in war crimes. She said they should convince President Vladimir Putin to end the war or quit their jobs.
The boycott comes as the US and its allies have sought to turn up the international pressure on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
President Joe Biden has called for Russia’s expulsion from the G-20, and Ms Yellen had previously said she wouldn’t participate in some G20 meetings that included Russian officials.
Several other members of the G20, including India and China, haven’t joined the US in its political and financial campaign against Russia, and Ms Yellen has warned countries against deepening their ties with Russia during the war. Ms Yellen met with counterparts from Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa this week and discussed the war in Russia.
In the conversation with Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Ms Yellen “firmly condemned Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, and emphasised there will be no business-as-usual for Russia in the global economy,” according to the Treasury’s readout of Wednesday’s meeting.
In a press conference after the G20 meeting on Wednesday, Ms Sri Mulyani said that the G20 nations agreed that the war in Ukraine posed a challenge to global economic growth. While she said the group affirmed the importance of the forum, she noted the divisions among the group.
“Many members condemned the war as unprovoked and unjustifiable and a violation of international law. Some members expressed concerns about the economic consequences of the sanctions,” she said.
As well as trying to sway other G20 countries toward its opposition to Russia, Ms Yellen and close allies are working to further support Ukraine and punish Russia for the war. A topic of particular concern is figuring out how to reduce Russian hard currency revenue from oil and gas sales, while not tilting European economies into recession.
The US Treasury Department announced additional penalties targeting entities it said were involved in helping Russia evade sanctions, including companies involved in mining digital currency.
Ukraine has told the International Monetary Fund that it estimates it will need roughly $US5bn in economic aid to keep its government and economy functioning during the war. The U.S. is preparing another round of economic aid for the nation after earlier committing $US500m.
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