World News

G20 finances chiefs convene amid threats of Ukraine boycott

Finance officials from the world’s richest countries are convening on Wednesday to address global challenges like rising debt and a possible food crisis if they can overcome boiling tensions over Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow’s attack on its neighbor looms over the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, the first since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion in late February.

Western nations have retaliated for the bloody incursion with sanctions meant to harm Russia’s economy and turn it into a pariah state.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen intended to boycott some sessions if Russian officials were present, according to a senior US official, a stance France and other countries are expected to follow.

“We demand that Russia cease right now its military action, and we ask Russia to refrain from attending G20 meetings. War is not compatible with international cooperation,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in the meeting.

The boycott threat underscores the tumult facing the Group of 20, and experts see little chance at this meeting for the bloc to find consensus on global challenges such as climate change and debt relief for poor nations.

“I think expectations should be extremely low,” said Matthew Goodman, senior vice president for economics at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

“It’s hard to see how the G20 is going to pull together in the face of… the Ukraine crisis,” he said in an interview.

The G20, chaired by Indonesia this year, includes major economies like the United States, China, India, Brazil, Japan and several countries in Europe, including Russia.
Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergiy Marchenko attended the meeting’s opening session, according to a French spokesperson.

The finance officials are gathering virtually on the sidelines of the World Bank and IMF’s spring meetings in Washington.

Despite the friction, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said global cooperation “must and will continue,” pointing to a long list of issues that “no country can solve on its own.

Asked how the group can avoid fracture and still take action, Georgieva, who heads an institution with 189 members, told reporters, “I can vouch for the fact that it is more difficult when there are tensions, but it is not impossible.

After the economic downturn caused by Covid-19, the global economy is facing a new shock caused by Russia’s invasion of its neighbor, which has driven prices for food and fuel higher and caused the IMF to lower the global growth outlook to 3.6 percent for this year.

Source: eNCA

In other news –  Rihanna’s baby daddy ASAP Rocky arrested

A$AP Rocky was arrested as he flew into LAX Wednesday morning TMZ has confirmed.

Rihanna and ASAP Rocky

Eyewitnesses at the airport tell TMZ the rapper flew into Los Angeles from Barbados on a private jet. Learn more