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• US, Canada, UK, and EU delegates walked out of G20 meeting
• Ukraine’s finance minister, Serhiy Marchenko, spoke at the session, left during Russia’s presentation
Several finance ministers and central bankers from multiple nations, including US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Fed Chair Jerome Powell, walked out of a closed-door G20 session in Washington on Wednesday when the Russian finance minister, Anton Siluanov, began his prepared remarks to protest against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
“The world’s democracies will not stand idly by in the face of continued Russian aggression and war crimes,” Canada’s finance minister Chrystia Freeland tweeted, along with a photo of delegates who left the meeting, including European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde, along with Yellen and Powell.
Ukraine’s finance minister, Serhiy Marchenko, spoke at the session as a guest and walked out during Russia’s presentation.
“Alongside our allies, the US and Canada, representatives from the UK left the G20 meeting as Russian delegates spoke,” a British finance ministry spokesperson said after Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey left the meeting.
US’s non-participation
Ahead of the meeting, Treasury officials clarified that Yellen would not participate in certain sessions that included Russia during the big gathering of global economic leaders.
“President Biden’s made clear, and I certainly agree with him, that it cannot be business as usual for Russia in any of the financial institutions,” Yellen told the House Financial Services Committee earlier this month.
“He’s asked that Russia be removed from the G20, and I’ve made clear to my colleagues in Indonesia that we will not be participating in a number of meetings if the Russians are there.”
Although Indonesia will host the G20 in 2022, the finance ministers are gathered in Washington this week to coincide with the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
While Biden wanted Russia out of G20, expelling Moscow would require the support of 19 member countries, which is considered unlikely, as China rejected calls and backed Russia.
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