WASHINGTON (CU)_Top finance officials from the world’s 20 largest economies (G20) met in Washington on Wednesday (20 April) to tackle a range of issues threatening the global economy. During the meeting, officials from Canada joined several allies in staging a walkout, signaling their objection to the participation of some of guests at the summit.
According to Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, she and “a number of democratic partners” got up and left the meeting when Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov addressed the G20, virtually. “This week’s meetings in Washington are about supporting the world economy – and Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is a grave threat to the global economy. Russia should not be participating or included in these meetings,” she said on Twitter.
A photo posted by Freeland shows the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, Chair of the US Federal Reserve, Jay Powell, European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni and Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko were involved in the walkout. Reports reveal that they were joined by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Britain’s Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde. Commenting on the matter, Sunak wrote on Twitter: “We are united in our condemnation of Russia’s war against Ukraine and will push for stronger international coordination to punish Russia.”
They staged their protest against Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine, amid calls from US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the reevaluation of Russia’s seat at the G20. “It’s obvious that we can’t have business as usual when it comes to the G20. When it comes to Vladimir Putin sitting around that table with the rest of us, that’s going to be extraordinarily difficult for us and unproductive for the G20,” the Canadian PM said of the fall G20 Summit scheduled to be held in Indonesia.
