Delegates walk out of IMF steering committee as Russia's Siluanov speaks in Russian

Mixed · 2Many delegates to the International Monetary Fund's steering committee walked out of a meeting on Saturday when Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov addressed the group in Russian, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. 1 2 Centre · 1One source said "many delegations walked out, including members of the European Union". 2 Right · 1A second official in the room said nearly a dozen delegates left when the Russian official began speaking, among them delegates from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. 1

Centre · 1One European diplomat said: "The Ukraine war is existential for us in Europe. We cannot normalise relations with Russia." 2 Mixed · 2Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has roiled the International Monetary and Financial Committee, preventing consensus statements since, and there were deep divisions again at this week's IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok as new tensions flared between the US and Ukraine. 1 2 Centre · 1On Thursday Germany warned against efforts to bring Russia back onto the international stage after Siluanov attended a G20 finance ministers and central bankers meeting, just over a month after the US hosted his first in-person G20 appearance since the invasion, in Asheville, North Carolina. 2

Mixed · 2US Treasury Undersecretary Erin Browne said Washington, the current G20 leader, supported Russia's presence despite European concerns, arguing that resolving a conflict requires open dialogue. 1 2 Mixed · 2Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, at an EU summit on Friday, criticised US President Donald Trump's diesel deal with Russia, after Trump called Ukraine's strikes on Russian refineries a "disgrace"; EU leaders rallied around Zelensky amid fears the US could pull back intelligence sharing and weapons support. 1 2