Moscow’s Moment of Global Summitry — SkimNews
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- Russian forces launched a sixth straight day of missile and drone strikes on Kyiv, killing at least 12 people and damaging residential homes, while Kremlin officials simultaneously attended a slew of international conferences.
- Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov met U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the G-20 finance ministers' meeting in Asheville, North Carolina on Monday — Moscow's first in-person attendance at the gathering since the war began in February 2022.
- Bessent and Siluanov discussed Trump's Russia-Ukraine peace proposal and G-20 engagement; Bessent ruled out economic relief for Russia while the war continues, per Axios.
- Poland, Germany, and the EU publicly refused to normalize engagement — Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski told Reuters: "We do not trust Russia. They lie constantly, and you need to be really, really cautious while discussing with them."
- German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told European colleagues he would not pose for a photo with the Russian finance minister, while EU economy chief Valdis Dombrovskis said "we do not think now is the time to normalize Russia."
- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the SCO's "Bishkek Declaration" condemning U.S. and Israeli military action against Iran and denouncing Western sanctions, then opened the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok with delegations from 80 countries.
- Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto's attendance at Vladivostok signaled Russia's growing interest in Southeast Asia.
Why it matters: Russia's top finance minister attended the G-20 in person for the first time since the Ukraine war began, while Polish, German, and EU officials publicly refused to normalize engagement and Berlin blocked even a photo op. The gap between Washington's willingness to meet Moscow's economic officials and Europe's refusal to engage shows that Western sanctions have not closed off Russia's access to top-tier financial forums.
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