U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and her Canadian and European counterparts on April 20 led a walkout of a meeting of Group of 20 finance officials in protest against Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
British, French, and Canadian officials joined the walkout of the virtual meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington.
Yellen told attendees she strongly disapproved of a senior Russian official's presence at the meeting, according to two sources quoted by Reuters. The U.S. treasury secretary said earlier this week she would not take part in meetings with her global counterparts if Russian officials were included.
Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko also walked out, according to AFP, quoting a source familiar with the event.
British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said that he, Yellen, and Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland walked out as Russian delegates spoke.
"We are united in our condemnation of Russia’s war against Ukraine and will push for stronger international coordination to punish Russia,” Sunak said on Twitter.
Freeland tweeted a picture of all the officials who left the meeting.
"The world's democracies will not stand idly by in the face of continued Russian aggression and war crimes," she said. "Today Canada and a number of our democratic partners walked out of the G20 plenary when Russia sought to intervene."
Indonesia Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who chaired the meeting, said the walkout was "not a total surprise" and was not disruptive to the group's wider discussion.
"I am confident this will not erode cooperation or the importance of the G20 forum," Indrawati said at a press conference following the meeting.
It was the first meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion in late February.
The G20, chaired by Indonesia this year, includes major economies like the United States, China, India, Brazil, Japan, several European countries, and Russia.
Despite the friction, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said global cooperation "must and will continue," pointing to a long list of issues that "no country can solve on its own."
