In an official release from Moscow, the government noted that Finance Minister Anton Siluanov met U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meetings in Asheville, North Carolina. Siluanov's trip is his first in-person appearance at a G20 gathering since President Vladimir Putin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The encounter represents an uncommon senior-level exchange between U.S. and Russian economic officials while ties remain strained by the war and sweeping Western sanctions. Finance ministers and central bank leaders are convening in Asheville this week, and Siluanov was present at the session on Aug. 31.
According to the Russian government's statement, the talks covered two areas: potential bilateral financial cooperation and coordination within the G20. Since the war began, Siluanov has been in charge of Russia's public finances, overseeing a sharp rise in defense spending and taking steps aimed at shielding the economy from sanctions. Any wider thaw in economic ties would almost certainly have to grapple with penalties regimes, limits on finance, and the question of how to handle Russia's immobilized assets. The Treasury Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Siluanov's participation drew criticism from European officials. German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said he and several peers opted out of the customary group photograph rather than stand alongside the Russian minister. In a statement, Klingbeil said, "The fact alone that the Russian finance minister is taking part again after four G20 meetings without Russia shows that there is an attempt at normalization, and all the more we have to push back against that: there is no normal situation with Russia right now." He added that inviting his Russian counterpart "is something I find irritating, because I would have wished for there to be clarity from the American side that he is not received here like a normal guest."
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Bessent oversees U.S. sanctions policy against Russia. According to the Treasury Department account relayed by NBC News, he spoke with Siluanov about a Ukraine peace proposal put forward by President Donald Trump. The Trump administration is still promoting its plan to conclude the war, though talks have so far failed to produce any decisive progress, and the distance between Moscow and Kyiv over the conditions for a deal remains wide.
