BALI, July 16(ABC): Western finance chiefs condemned Moscow s invasion of Ukraine at G20 talks in Indonesia Friday, accusing Russia of sending a “shockwave” through the world economy and its technocrats of complicity in the war s alleged atrocities.
The two-day meeting on the island of Bali began under the shadow of a Russian military assault that has roiled markets, spiked food prices and stoked breakneck inflation, a week after Moscow s top diplomat walked out of talks with the forum s foreign ministers.
“Russia is solely responsible for negative spillovers to the global economy,” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Russian delegation in the opening session, according to a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“Russia s officials should recognise that they are adding to the horrific consequences of this war through their continued support of the Putin regime. You share responsibility for the innocent lives lost,” Yellen added, according to the official.
The official did not comment on whether the Russian delegation responded. Russian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation” and blames subsequent Western sanctions for blocked food shipments and rising energy prices.
“Russia tried to say that the world economic situation had nothing to do with the war,” a French delegation source told.
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers condemned Russia s “immoral transgression” against Ukraine, saying that Moscow must take the blame for the impacts on the global economy caused by the war.
“Russia s unjust actions have had terrible human cost but they ve also increased global uncertainty,” Chalmers said, according to a transcript. “Russia must take full responsibility.”
Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told Russia s delegation they were responsible for “war crimes” in Ukraine because of their support for the invasion, a Canadian official said.
“It is not only generals who commit war crimes, it is the economic technocrats who allow the war to happen and to continue,” said Freeland, according to the official.
Both Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko participated virtually in the meeting.
Moscow sent Russian Deputy Finance Minister Timur Maksimov to attend the talks in person. He was in the room as Western officials expressed their condemnation, according to a source present at the talks.
Ukraine s Marchenko said Russia s invasion of Ukraine “clearly marks the end of the existing world order”, and blamed Moscow for the world facing hunger, inflation and energy insecurity.
“We need to stop the cause of these problems. The true practical solution… is imposing more severe targeted sanctions,” he told ministers, according to the Ukrainian finance ministry.