At a Group of 20 meeting on Wednesday, top British, U.S., and Canadian officials walked out on Russia, and many other G-20 members raised concerns about Moscow’s war in Ukraine, revealing deep rifts within the group.
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Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who presided over the meeting of G20 finance officials in Washington, acknowledged that the group was confronted with unprecedented challenges, but urged cooperation to overcome factors affecting global growth.
“This is an extraordinary situation,” Indrawati told reporters following the daylong meeting. “It’s not business as usual, a very dynamic and challenging one.”
The G20 is made up of Western countries that have accused Moscow of war crimes in Ukraine, as well as China, India, Indonesia, and South Africa, which have refused to join Western-led sanctions against Russia over the conflict.
Indrawati stated that numerous countries spoke out against the war during the meeting, but she did not name them.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen walked out of the G20 meeting in Washington over the presence of a senior Russian official. Ukrainian officials, who were in Washington seeking billions of dollars in additional funding, also left the meeting.
Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and central bank governor participated virtually. Yellen told participants that Russia may face “no business-as-usual” in the global economy, sources said. G20 finance ministers and central bank governors met in Washington on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) semi-annual conference.
The Ukraine conflict, food security, and the ongoing recovery from the coronavirus pandemic were the primary topics of discussion. IMF’s Lagarde urged Maksimov to send a clear message to Moscow, Africa Daily News, New York gathered from a reliable sources.
Brown StoneΒ contributed reporting, andΒ MarkAnthony Nze, Ph.D. edited the piece forΒ Africa Daily News, New York.
