G20 finance ministers will meet on the resort island of Bali on Friday (July 15) to try to find common ground in a group riven by the Ukraine conflict and rising economic pressures from soaring inflation.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen set the tone a day before the meeting, calling Russia's war in Ukraine the "greatest challenge" to the global economy and saying members of Putin's government "have no place" at the talks.
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which the Kremlin refers to as a "special military operation," has overshadowed past G-20 summits, including the meeting of foreign ministers last week.
According to his planning minister, Indonesian President Joko Widodo told World Bank representatives in a meeting in Jakarta that he hopes G20 participants "might put out a communiqué" after the summit's conclusion on Saturday.
Members of the G20 include Western nations that have sanctioned Russia and have accused it of war crimes in Ukraine, which it denies, as well as other countries like China, India, and South Africa that have responded less strongly.
Due to the tensions surrounding Ukraine, officials from Germany and France expressed doubt that a compromise could be found.
On Thursday, Yellen claimed that the war was having an adverse effect on the entire world and that Russian officials had no business attending the G20 summit.
Yellen did not directly answer the question of whether she would leave the room while Russian representatives spoke, but she did state that she would denounce Russia's invasion "in the strongest possible terms".
The finance minister of Ukraine is scheduled to participate virtually in one of the meetings, according to Indonesia. The meeting will be addressed virtually by the deputy of the Russian finance minister, Anton Siluanov, who will be in Bali.
Without issuing a statement or announcing any agreements, the meeting came to a close.
Indonesia has stated that it wants the gathering to produce concrete steps to address an impending food crisis that will primarily affect developing nations.
Finance directors are anticipated to talk about how to lessen the effects on less developed countries that will experience supply shortages as a result of the war.
More than a billion people worldwide still lack access to a bank account, so the ministers will also discuss digital financial inclusion and the impending deadline for updating international tax regulations.
An update on the status of international tax reforms that will establish a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% by 2024-one year later than first anticipated-will be provided to the ministers by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
