US Treasury Secretary Bessent met Russian Finance Minister Siluanov at the G20
in Asheville, North Carolina, to discuss bilateral financial cooperation and
coordination within the G20. Siluanov’s attendance was his first in-person G20
appearance since the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict. The meeting was a rare
senior-level U.S.-Russia economic contact amid persistently tense relations;
several European officials opposed Siluanov’s presence and Germany’s finance
minister Klingbeil declined the traditional group photo. Bessent, who oversees
US sanctions policy, and Siluanov also discussed Trump’s Ukraine peace plan, NBC
reported; no breakthrough was reported and positions remain far apart.