The European Union declared on Tuesday that the presence of the Russian finance minister at the G20 meeting organized by the US is inappropriate, emphasizing that it is not ”at all the time for normalization” of relations with Moscow, reports AFP, quoted by Agerpres. On Monday, the Europeans managed to exclude Siluanov from the traditional family photo.
For the European Union, “it is not the time to normalize Russia or Russia’s presence at this type of meetings,” declared the European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, Valdis Dombrovskis, present at the G20 finance ministers’ meeting taking place in Asheville, in the American state of North Carolina.
“Personally, I have always found it difficult to discuss sensitive subjects with representatives of regimes that wage war and kill civilians every day,” added Dombrovskis, referring to the war launched by Russia against Ukraine.
The European Commissioner held a press conference just before the resumption of discussions on the last day of the G20 meeting in the USA.
To the irritation of European country representatives, the Russian Finance Minister was also invited to the G20 summit organized in the USA. Anton Siluanov’s presence was not made public before he appeared among other delegates at the event in North Carolina. Furious, the German Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil reiterated his support for Ukraine and demanded that his Russian counterpart be excluded from the “family photo”, reports Agerpres.