G-20 finance chief meeting to highlight rift, not post-pandemic unity

Finance chiefs of the Group of 20 major economies will likely do little more than highlight the deep rift that has formed among member nations next week when the forum holds its first ministerial-level meeting since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

G-20 members, including Russia and the United States, have a plethora of issues to negotiate if they hope to pull the world’s economy out of the COVID-19-induced doldrums and mitigate the impact of the Ukraine crisis.

U.S. President Joe Biden said in late March that Russia should be expelled from the G-20 framework as a response to its invasion of Ukraine, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week the United States will boycott some G-20 meetings if Russian officials show up.

Photo taken April 10, 2022, shows a view of Kyiv from a high point after Russian troops completed their withdrawal from around the Ukrainian capital. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has reportedly confirmed he will attend the gathering virtually, which means a clash is likely.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that the G-20 is an important format but his nation’s exclusion would not be “fatal” given most members are “in a state of economic war with us,” according to Russia’s Tass news agency.

The G-20 meeting involving finance ministers and central bank governors will convene on Wednesday on the sidelines of the spring sessions of the International Monetary Fund and the…

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