news
Russia’s finance minister walked into a G20 summit for the first time since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But what did he walk out with?
Source: Meduza
Anton Siluanov at a meeting of finance ministers at the G20 summit, August 31, 2026
Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa / picture-alliance / Scanpix / LETA
- Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 (G20) met in Asheville, North Carolina. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov attended in person for the first time since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He last took part in a G20 meeting in April 2022, by video link, according to The Washington Post. That appearance drew protests from several Western countries.
- The Trump administration decided to bring the Russian delegation into the meeting, according to Politico. “We like getting along with everybody,” U.S. President Donald Trump said of the move. The U.S. Treasury Department, meanwhile, did not invite South Africa’s delegation. In late 2025, Trump said he would not grant accreditation to South African officials, citing a “genocide” against the country’s white population.
- At the summit, Siluanov met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The two discussed Trump’s plan for ending the war in Ukraine and economic cooperation between Russia and the United States. Sources told Politico and Reuters that Siluanov tried to raise other areas of mutual interest, but Bessent cut him off and said that “nothing is possible until the war is over.”
- Officials in both countries used neutral language to describe the meeting between Siluanov and Bessent. Erin Browne, the Treasury’s undersecretary for international affairs, told Politico that Bessent “had a productive meeting with the Russian finance minister.” Russia’s Finance Ministry said the two sides had discussed “issues of Russian-American engagement on the financial track.”
- European delegations objected to the Russian minister’s visit. German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said that he would not pose for a group photo with Siluanov, and that other European officials sided with him. Among them was Poland’s finance minister, according to Reuters. In the end, Siluanov was left out of the group photo.
- Klingbeil said he had taken the opportunity to tell the Russian finance minister “straight to his face” that Russia must end the war. “People are dying every day, we have just seen another escalation in the attacks,” The Washington Post quoted him as saying. “You cannot simply return to normality.”
- U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, also criticized the decision to invite the Russian minister to the summit. “The Trump Admin needs to pressure Putin and his cronies, not offer them a platform,” she said. Shaheen urged the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a new sanctions bill against Russia that the Senate had already approved.
- Even so, Siluanov’s trip to the summit showed how ready Washington is to reopen high-level diplomatic channels with Moscow, according to CNBC. The Trump administration is willing to do so even over its European allies’ objections.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].
To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.
Meduza