Russia’s finance minister is attending the Group of 20 (G20) meeting on US soil for the first time since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, while some correspondents from major US media outlets were barred from covering the event.
Finance ministers from the G20 group of leading economies are gathering for two days in Asheville, North Carolina, to discuss ways to revive global economic growth.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov attended in person – the first time since the start of the Ukraine war – at the invitation of the US hosts.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) described the move as a US-led “attempt at normalization.” Klingbeil, who also serves as vice chancellor, said he personally saw no reason for any easing or normalization of relations with Russia.
The Russian minister should not have been received as a normal guest given the horrors of the war, he added. At the same time, Klingbeil acknowledged: “Russia is part of the G20, and it is good to have this opportunity for dialogue and to speak clearly.”
It was important to deliver firm messages in private discussions – which he said he had done. “Sometimes these meetings are too diplomatic for my taste, and that is why my words may have startled one or two people in the room,” he said.
He said that he told Siluanov “directly to his face that the Russian government must end this war, what the consequences of this war are, and that we stand firmly on the side of Ukraine.”
Siluanov last took part in a G20 finance ministers’ meeting by video link in April 2022, shortly after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At that meeting, several Western finance ministers walked out of the room in protest when the Russian minister began speaking.
Russia’s foreign minister regularly attends G20 meetings
Germany’s then finance minister Christian Lindner remained and, together with his counterparts from the Group of Seven (G7), responded to Siluanov’s speech.
Unlike the finance minister, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov regularly attends G20 meetings, most recently in South Africa in February 2025 and in Brazil in 2024.
G20 ministerial meetings are intended to prepare the ground for the group’s main summit of leaders.
At recent summits, the Russians were mostly represented by Kremlin senior officials. President Vladimir Putin last attended a summit in 2019. That could change this year.
US President Donald Trump recently expressed a generally positive view on the Russian president’s potential attendance at the summit in Miami this December.
“It would be probably very helpful,” Trump said of Russia potentially taking part.
The invitation to Russia was not the only source of controversy – the US hosts’ treatment of the press also caused problems. Initially, journalists from both Bloomberg and the New York Times were to be denied access to cover the meeting.
Germany’s Finance Ministry attempted to intervene with the US government at a senior diplomatic level, according to delegation sources.
The Berlin correspondent for the New York Times was ultimately granted accreditation. Efforts on behalf of Bloomberg, however, were unsuccessful.
The delegation said this treatment of an international news agency was unprecedented and unacceptable from the German government’s perspective.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil speaks to members of the media at the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from the G20 countries. The United States holds this year’s presidency of the group of 20 leading industrialized and emerging economies. (is associated with: «Russian finance minister to attend G20 meeting») Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
