Senior finance officials walked out of a G20 meeting in Washington, DC, on Wednesday in protest of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen led a multination boycott as Russian officials spoke. She was joined by Ukrainian, British, French and Canadian delegates.
As many attendees attended virtually, they turned their cameras off instead.
Finance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s richest nations were meeting to discuss global challenges, such as rising debt and a looming food crisis. However, discussions have been dominated by Moscow’s war of aggression.
The meeting came on the sidelines of a semiannual conference held by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
It was the first such meeting since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
G20 ministers protest
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland shared a photo of attendees who walked out, saying: “The world’s democracies will not stand idly by in the face of continued Russian aggression and war crimes.”https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3NwYWNlX2NhcmQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib2ZmIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1516821378288308225&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dw.com%2Fen%2Fg20-finance-officials-walk-out-in-protest-of-russian-attendance%2Fa-61528657&sessionId=2a091d794bf01410dac1ce4006d7d92a6d5e4268&siteScreenName=dwnews&theme=light&widgetsVersion=c8fe9736dd6fb%3A1649830956492&width=550px
A UK spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “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.”
Ahead of the walkout, Yellen reportedly told attendees that she disapproved of the presence of Russia’s deputy finance minister, Timur Maksimov, who attended in person. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Russia’s central bank governor joined virtually