From August 31 to September 1 local time, the G20 Finance Ministers' Meeting hosted by the United States was held in Asheville, North Carolina. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and representatives of the Russian Central Bank were invited to attend the meeting.
The Russian Ministry of Finance issued a press release stating that during the meeting, Slutikov held talks with Besent, discussing cooperation between Russia and the United States in the financial sector, as well as interactions within the framework of the G20.
Bloomberg reports that this is the first time since the Russia-Ukraine conflict that Shiluanov has attended a G20 meeting in person. Due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the comprehensive sanctions imposed by the West on Russia, relations between the United States and Russia remain tense. However, this meeting marks a rare high-level contact between the economic teams of the United States and Russia.
Besent and Siluanov share a photo at the G20 meeting. Russian Ministry of Finance website
According to Reuters reports, this has caused dissatisfaction among European finance ministers and officials.
According to reports, ministers and central bank governors from various European countries opposed having Russian representatives included in the regular group photos. In the end, the organizers decided to take the photos without any Russian representatives present.
German Finance Minister Christian Schmidt said that as long as the war in Ukraine continues, it is impossible to normalize relations with Moscow. He revealed that Europe is preparing to impose further sanctions on Russia and hopes to cooperate closely with Washington regarding these measures.
"The best solution is to take joint action, but it's unclear whether the stances of all parties will soften in the near future," said Clinton Bailey during a press conference. "Therefore, I find the signal released by Russia's Finance Minister at the invite-only meeting extremely worrying. I hope that the US can clarify their stance and avoid treating him as just another guest."
He mentioned that last night, he discussed relevant issues with European officials including British Foreign Minister John Hilli and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde. They agreed that opening up channels of dialogue is conducive to conveying honest information.
"However, Russia's finance minister returned to the G20 – as I understand it, Russia has been absent from the G20 for four consecutive meetings," he said. "This fact itself indicates that Russia is trying to normalize relations and this makes us even more necessary to counterattack."
As the host country, the United States decided which countries would be invited to the summit, but South Africa, the host of the G20 last year, was not invited. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to cut off trade with Spain, and Spain also missed the summit.
Bloomberg mentioned that during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Slutovnov was responsible for Russia's financial affairs, including significantly increasing defense spending and efforts to alleviate the economic impact of sanctions. Any broader improvement in economic relations between Moscow and Washington may involve issues such as sanctions, financial restrictions, and obtaining frozen Russian assets.
Bessen is responsible for overseeing the United States’ sanctions policy against Russia. According to a report by NBC, citing information from the U.S. Treasury Department, he discussed Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine with Slouanov.
