Yellen, BoE’s Bailey, others walk out of G20 meeting as Russians speak
2022.04.20 21:16
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FILE PHOTO: Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey speaks during a news conference at Bank of England in London, Britain February 3, 2022. Dan Kitwood/Pool via REUTERS
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By David Lawder, Andrea Shalal and David Milliken
WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) – Top finance officials from Britain, the United States and Canada walked out of Wednesday’s meeting of finance officials from the world’s top 20 economies as Russian representatives spoke, a UK government spokesperson said, exposing deepening divisions over Russia’s continued presence in the body.
Ukraine officials in attendance also walked out, according to a source familiar with the meeting.
“Alongside our allies the U.S. and Canada, representatives from the UK left the G20 meeting as Russian delegates spoke,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue working with our allies to condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine in the strongest terms, and push for stronger international coordination to punish Russia.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told attendees she disapproved of a senior Russian official’s presence at the meeting, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Yellen was among those who walked out, joined by Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and others.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, meanwhile, urged that Russian official, Deputy Finance Minister Timur Maksimov, to convey to Moscow a clear message – to end the war in Ukraine, one of the sources said.
G20 finance ministers and central bank governors were meeting on the sidelines of a semi-annual conference held by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, with the Ukraine war, food security and ongoing recovery from the coronavirus pandemic the key topics.
Maksimov was participating in person at the meeting, one source said. Russia’s finance minister and central bank governor participated virtually, other sources familiar with the meeting said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Yellen told her counterpart from G20 chair Indonesia that there would be no “business-as-usual” for Russia in the global economy given its invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Treasury said.
U.S. Treasury officials say Yellen will boycott some of the G20 sessions attended virtually by Russian officials but will participate in discussion of the Ukraine war’s impact on the global economy.
Finance leaders from a number of European countries planned to follow suit in protest of Russia’s invasion.
Canada’s Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, for instance, was set to “leave and boycott any sessions where the Russians try to speak,” a Canadian government official said. Freeland was among those reported to have walked out on Wednesday.
Freeland, who is of Ukrainian descent and has made impassioned pleas on behalf of the country after Russia’s invasion in February, “may also use the opportunity to provide a rebuttal directly to the Russians if they speak in the plenary.”
