Canadian Foreign Minister Christie Freeland speaks to reporters at the US Trade Representative’s office in Washington, DC, USA, August 28, 2018. REUTERS / Chris Wattie / File Photo
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WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) – The group of 20 major economies cannot function effectively as long as Russia remains a member, Canada’s finance minister said on Friday after a week of protests against Moscow’s war in Ukraine at the International Monetary Fund. The World Bank. in Washington.
Disputes over Russia’s presence at the meetings have been ongoing throughout the week, with officials from the United States, Canada, Britain and other Western countries arranging departures for three days in a row when Russian officials speak. Read more
Finance ministers and G20 central bank governors meeting in Washington on Wednesday failed to agree on a traditional communiqué outlining economic policy goals as Russia blocks outright condemnation of its invasion of Ukraine.
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The IMF Steering Committee and the World Bank and IMF Development Committee also did not issue joint statements. Read more
“The G20 cannot function effectively with Russia at the table,” Christia Freeland, Canada’s finance minister, told a news conference with Ukrainian finance minister Sergei Marchenko in Washington.
“Russia has no place on the table of countries that have united to sustain global economic prosperity,” Freeland said, adding that Russia had violated long-standing international rules by invading southern Ukraine. “You can’t be a poacher and a game breeder at the same time.”
Tensions have called into question the effectiveness of the G20, which includes Western countries that have accused Moscow of war crimes in Ukraine, as well as China, India, Indonesia and South Africa, which have not joined Western sanctions against Russia over the conflict.
This year’s G20 host country is still optimistic that progress can be made on a number of issues despite tensions, Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati told Reuters.
“Even with a walk, we all agree” on the nature of the work that needs to be done, Indravati said.
Indravati said it was more focused on “mass” technical work, which underpins issues such as strengthening the common G20 debt framework for poor countries and creating a new funding mechanism for future pandemic needs, than issuing in a communiqué at this stage.
With other G20 financial meetings scheduled for July and October and a summit of leaders in November, Indravati said there was plenty of time to continue progress.
“If there is no forum at all, then the world will be in a much worse place,” with each country setting its own policies without considering others.
Freeland, who is of Ukrainian descent, is making passionate requests on behalf of Ukraine after Russia invaded the country in late February. Read more
On Thursday, she addressed Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov directly, who virtually joined the IMF meeting, saying his participation was “perverse and absurd” as “your war makes us poorer”, according to a source. Read more
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation.”
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Report by David Lauder and Andrea Shalal in Washington and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Edited by Chizu Nomiyama, Paul Simao and Chris Reese
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