Nearly half of delegates walked out of an International Monetary Fund meeting in Bangkok on Saturday as Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov addressed the group, exposing deep divisions over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Representatives from Britain, Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were among those who left the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) as Siluanov spoke in Russian, according to people who attended.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde remained in the room, two of them said.
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan, who chairs the IMFC, acknowledged the walkout but said what mattered was that members had ultimately agreed on the chair’s statement.
“We came here for a reason, and we achieved it. Look at this chair statement, it clearly says that all members agreed to the statement, so that’s what matters,” Al-Jadaan told Reuters.
Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said nearly 50 per cent of delegates had taken part, sending a strong message to Moscow.
“This is a very strong signal about solidarity and values. It would be the best for the world economy if this unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine would end,” Nagel said on the sidelines of the meetings. “I was really proud so many left this plenary.”
Ukraine’s central bank governor, Andriy Pyshnyi, told Reuters he had been surprised by the number of officials who left, calling it a “deep and emotional moment”.
The Bank of England confirmed that Governor Andrew Bailey was among them, as Britain prepares to host the G20 next year.
“The Ukraine war is existential for us in Europe,” one European diplomat said. “We cannot normalise relations with Russia.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has repeatedly complicated the IMFC’s efforts to reach consensus. Divisions resurfaced this week as tensions also flared between the U.S. and Ukraine.
Germany warned on Thursday against efforts to bring Russia back on to the international stage after Siluanov attended a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors. It came just over a month after the U.S. hosted his first in-person G20 meeting since the invasion, in Asheville, North Carolina.
U.S. Treasury Under Secretary Erin Browne said Washington, which currently leads the G20, supported Russia’s participation.
“We think it’s really important if you’re going to solve a crisis, you need to have open dialogue and open conversation,” she told Reuters. “And you can’t have ... dialogue, and you can’t have resolution to conflict if no one’s talking to one another.”
The meetings came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent diesel deal with Russia at a European Union summit.
Speaking at a press conference at the close of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings, Al-Jadaan said the global economy was showing “remarkable resilience” despite wars, threats to energy and food security, high public debt and risks linked to the rapid development of artificial intelligence.
“The message from the IMFC members is clear: there is no room for complacency,” he said.
He said governments should rebuild fiscal buffers while protecting vulnerable populations and growth-supporting investment, and stressed the importance of central bank independence and private sector-led growth. Members also called for more support for countries facing short-term financing pressures caused by the spillover effects of wars and high energy prices.
“International cooperation remains critical to addressing excessive global imbalances and trade tensions,” Al-Jadaan said.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva described the meetings as productive but acknowledged growing anxiety among members over widening economic divergence, with many lower-income countries outside the artificial intelligence value chain fearing they were falling behind.
“These meetings also have shown that in a world of repetitive shocks and geopolitical fragmentation, still there is desire for multilateral dialogue and cooperation,” Georgieva said.
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