Walkout by U.S., others did not derail G20 meeting's focus, Indonesia says
A walkout by officials from the United States, Britain and Canada over Russia's participation in a meeting of officials from the world's 20 biggest economies did not derail the meeting's focus on addressing headwinds confronting global growth, the body's chair said on Wednesday (April 20).
The top finance officials walked out of the G20 meeting as Russian representatives spoke, exposing deepening divisions over Russia's continued presence in the body.
Ukrainian officials, in Washington seeking billions of dollars of additional funding, also walked out of the meeting, a source familiar with the meeting said.
Indonesia Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who chaired the gathering in Washington, said the walkout during the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers meeting was "not a total surprise" and was not disruptive to the group's wider discussion.
"I am confident this will not erode cooperation or the importance of the G20 forum," Indrawati said.
Indrawati acknowledged the body faced unprecedented challenges but called for cooperation to overcome headwinds slowing global growth.
"This is an extraordinary situation," Indrawati told reporters after the daylong meeting. "It's not business as usual, a very dynamic and challenging one."
The G20 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-led sanctions against Russia over the conflict.
Indrawati said many countries spoke out against the war at the meeting, although she did not identify them.
Over five million Ukrainians have fled abroad since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, the biggest attack on a European state since 1945.
The United States accuses Russia of committing war crimes in what Moscow calls a "special military operation". Russia denies the allegations.