The United States hosted the G20 summit in Asheville, North Carolina, with the presence of the Russian Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov, which provoked the fury of the European representatives present. European Commissioner for the Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, said it is not the time to normalize Russia, while European leaders refused to appear in a group photograph with Siluanov at the end of the first day of the meeting.
President Donald Trump justified the Russian presence by telling reporters that one of the reasons for his success is getting along with everyone. The US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, spoke of good discussions and guaranteed that Washington will continue to pressure allies to join the economic suffocation against Iran, although the Axios portal cited an anonymous source who revealed that Bessent and Siluanov discussed Washington's peace plan for Ukraine, maintaining the position of not backing down on sanctions on Moscow while the conflict continues.
On the European side, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil spoke of a worrying signal with the American invitation, and his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Domanski, said they do not trust Russia, which constantly lies. South Africa was not invited to the meeting after filing a complaint with the International Criminal Court against Israel's military action in Gaza, being replaced by Poland.
Beyond geopolitical tensions, the summit was also marked by the trade war between the US and Canada, with fears that these frictions may wear down the Western bloc, and by the decision of the American administration to exclude journalists from outlets such as the New York Times, Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal, which was criticized by the German Finance Minister.
