Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell were among several of the world’s top banking and finance officials to walk out of a G-20 meeting when a Russian official spoke on Wednesday.
Yellen and Powell were joined in the walkout during Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov’s virtual remarks by finance ministers and central bank leaders from Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Canada, and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, among others. The group opted to stand in the lobby of the International Monetary Fund’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, where the conference took place, in protest of Russia’s participation in the summit and the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.
“The United States, in the strongest terms, condemns Russia’s illegal, unprovoked war against Ukraine. Russia’s invasion is an assault on fundamental international rules and norms and threatens the core of the international order,” Yellen said in a statement released after the walkout.
“The United States stands resolutely with the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people,” her statement continued, adding that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has “imperiled the global recovery from the pandemic and aggravated inflation, with vulnerable populations across the world feeling the effects of steeply rising food prices.”
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Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland shared a photo of the group of officials protesting Russia’s war in Ukraine and participation in the G-20 meeting, tweeting, “Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is a grave threat to the global economy. Russia should not be participating or included in these meetings.”
The world’s democracies will not stand idly by in the face of continued Russian aggression and war crimes. Today Canada and a number of our democratic partners walked out of the G20 plenary when Russia sought to intervene. pic.twitter.com/J67gU810sO
— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) April 20, 2022
Yellen and Lagarde also expressed disapproval over the in-person participation of Russian Deputy Finance Minister Timur Maksimov at the G-20 meeting, according to a report. Largade reportedly asked the Russian official during the meeting to tell Russian leaders to end the war in Ukraine.
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At least 2,224 people have been killed and 2,897 have been injured since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to the latest update from the United Nations.
