US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made clear to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov that no economic relief for Russia or agreements on other issues were possible until the war in Ukraine ends, according to a source familiar with their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in North Carolina.

Siluanov’s first in-person appearance at a G20 meeting since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine angered some European officials. Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said Russia could not be trusted, while German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil called Siluanov’s presence a “quite troubling” signal as Europe prepares further sanctions against Moscow.

European officials also opposed appearing with Siluanov in the traditional group photo, which was ultimately taken without him.

Tensions were heightened by the US Treasury Department’s decision to deny accreditation to some journalists, including teams from Bloomberg and individual reporters from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

The US used the meeting to push for stronger global economic growth as the best way to tackle record debt of nearly $353tn. The Trump administration sees deregulation, increased energy production and investment as important drivers of growth.

Washington also plans to press G20 members to reconsider their trade relations with China. Bessent criticized Beijing’s $1.2tn trade surplus and urged China to shift its economy away from exports and toward domestic consumption, a call broadly echoed by European officials.

The global economy is also facing an energy shock triggered by the war with Iran.

(Reuters, max)