The United States' move to welcome Russia back to a meeting of G20 countries on Monday while denying some journalists access to the gathering dismayed some finance leaders present, deflecting from its bid to focus talks on global economic growth.The two-day meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, comes as the global economy is being buffeted by an energy shock triggered by the Iran war, faces rising tensions over China's huge goods trade surplus and is braced for how an investment surge in AI will ultimately play out.
As US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent opened the meeting, some ministers were surprised and dismayed to see Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov sitting at the G20 table, the first time they had attended the forum in person since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski told Reuters he was unhappy to see Russia represented, although he recognized the right of G20 hosts to invite guests.
"We do not trust Russia. They lie constantly and you need to be really, really cautious while discussing with them,” he told Reuters in an interview, stressing that Russia was the aggressor in its conflict with Ukraine.
"So for me it would be very difficult to have any kind of conversation with Russia.”
