Russia Confirms Attending G20 Finance Ministers Forum In Washington, Several Ministers Of Western Countries Will Walk-Out

Meeting of the Ministers of Finance and Governors of the G20 State Central Banks in Jakarta last February. (Source: G20.org)

JAKARTA - A number of ministers of countries will take a walk-out action, as a form of protest against Russia's presence at the G20 finance ministers meeting in Washington, United States this Wednesday.

Moscow confirmed on Tuesday, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov would lead the Russian delegation at the talks, despite repeated protests by Western diplomats. This is related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine since February 24.

"During and after the meeting we will definitely send a strong message and we will not be alone in doing so," said a German government source, accusing Russia of starting a conflict that has also sent world food and energy prices soaring.

Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plans to avoid the G20 session with Russian officials on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meeting.

But Yellen will attend the opening session on the Ukraine war regardless of Russia's participation, a US Treasury official said.

UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak will also not attend certain G20 sessions, a UK government source told Reuters.

And, a French Ministry of Finance official assessed several ministers from the Group of Seven countries to leave their seats, when their Russian counterparts were due to speak.

The widening divisions resulting from the Ukraine war have raised questions over the future of the G20 as the world's premier economic policy forum.

Conceived as a platform for the largest rich and developing countries to work together on recovery efforts during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. The G20 has since embarked on everything from global tax reform to pandemic debt relief and the fight against climate change, on an uneven note.

"The G20 is at risk of unraveling and this week is very important," said Josh Lipsky, director of the Atlantic Council's Center for Geoeconomics and a former adviser to the IMF.

If Western democracies allow that group to weaken in favor of the G7 or any other group, it will cede significant economic leverage to China, Lipsky said.

"Russia can ally with China and I think that's a good result from a Russian perspective, actually giving them more leverage than they have in a body like the G20."

The French and German official said there would be no agreed communique at the end of the meeting, which would initially discuss the state of the global economy and coordinate vaccines and other pandemic efforts.

In addition to the G7 countries, the United States, Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, the G20 also incorporates developing countries including China, India, and Brazil who have very different views on how the global economy should work.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the fact that some G20 countries have chosen not to follow Western sanctions against Russia are just the latest challenges to efforts to build a global set of rules for trade and finance.

Ahead of the G20 meeting, a top IMF official warned of the risks of a fragmented global economy.

"One scenario is one where we have divided up a bloc that doesn't trade much with each other, that has different standards, and that would be disastrous for the global economy," IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told reporters.

Separately, the IMF cut its forecast for global economic growth by almost a full percentage point, citing Russia's war in Ukraine, and warning inflation was a "clear and present danger" for many countries.