EU Delegates Walk Out of IMF Meeting Over Russian Speech
European Union delegates walked out of an IMF steering committee meeting in Bangkok to protest Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov's participation.
Delegates from the European Union and several other nations walked out of an International Monetary Fund steering committee meeting in Bangkok on Saturday. The protest occurred when Anton Siluanov, the Finance Minister of Russia, began speaking in Russian. Participants from Britain, Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia joined the walkout to signal solidarity with Ukraine and a refusal to normalize relations with Russia.
Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel estimated that nearly 50% of the delegates left the session. Despite the disruption, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan, who chaired the committee, stated that members ultimately agreed to the chair's statement.
The diplomatic friction follows a period of strained relations between the United States, Ukraine, and Russia. US Treasury Undersecretary Erin Browne defended Russia's presence at G20 events as a necessity for conflict resolution. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized a diesel deal between the United States and Russia. President Donald Trump further complicated the dynamic by calling Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries a "disgrace" and waiving a congressional requirement to impose harsh sanctions on Russia.
