Russia and US See Grounds for Financial Ties, Russian Finance Minister Says

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov says Moscow and Washington still have enough shared ground in finance to keep talking, despite the political complications between them.

Siluanov made the comments after meeting U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday at a G20 finance leaders conference in North Carolina. It was their first meeting, according to Siluanov, who said the two sides agreed that financial ties could be developed.

He argued that economic officials may sometimes find common ground faster than politicians. “So we must always keep talking; we need to continue the dialogue. If we find strong points of common interest, and they do exist, we need to develop them. Then political issues will also be easier to resolve,” he said, according to Interfax.

The possibility of closer financial ties remains constrained by Russia's war in Ukraine. Reuters reported that a person familiar with the meeting said Bessent made clear that no economic relief for Russia, or agreements on other issues, would be possible until the war ends.

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So we must always keep talking; we need to continue the dialogue. If we find strong points of common interest, and they do exist, we need to develop them. Then political issues will also be easier to resolve.