“Some Europeans Found It Distasteful”: US Treasury Secretary Defends Meeting with Russian Minister

Scott Bessent met Russia’s sanctioned finance minister at the G20 summit in Asheville, then defended the encounter by arguing that refusing contact would make it impossible to end the war in Ukraine.

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If we do not meet with the Russians, we will never end this terrible war.

“Some Europeans found it distasteful,” the US Treasury secretary said after meeting Anton Siluanov. But Bessent argued that engagement was necessary. “If we do not meet with the Russians, we will never end this terrible war,” he said, citing President Donald Trump’s preference for reaching agreements with all sides.

Bessent said the conflict could not be resolved if the parties were left isolated. He compared Russia and Ukraine to fighters trapped in opposite corners, saying there would be no solution unless the two sides engaged. He also said he had held “quiet talks” with Russia and China about cutting assistance to Iran, which he believed could move those discussions forward.

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Some Europeans found it distasteful, but I believe it is very important to engage.

The meeting drew criticism from European participants in the G20 finance ministers’ gathering. EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil and Poland’s Finance Minister Andrzej Domański all stressed that “this is not the time to normalize Russia.” Domański added that the US presidency had the right to invite participants, and that Russia remained a G20 member.

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This is not the time to normalize Russia.

Domański said he was relying only on media reports about the US-Russian meeting, which indicated that Washington had taken a fairly tough position toward Moscow. “Yesterday, here in Asheville, we showed a common front and a common position on Russia,” he said, adding that preserving this unity was important. Fox News reported that Bessent interrupted Siluanov when the Russian minister proposed economic cooperation and told him nothing would happen until Russia ended its war against Ukraine. Bessent also incorrectly said Siluanov was not under sanctions. The United States has sanctioned him since 2022, as have Canada and Australia.

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Yesterday, here in Asheville, we showed a common front and a common position on Russia.