Ending the war in Ukraine is the best way to address the world’s economic woes, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday in an apparent message to Russia before the G20 summit in Indonesia.
Ending Russia’s war is a moral imperative and the right thing to do for the global economy, Yellen told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with her French counterpart, Bruno Le Maire.
Officially, the invasion of Ukraine is not on the agenda of the club of 20 major economies, whose leaders meet on Tuesday and Wednesday on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Moscow has called on the G20 to focus on economic and financial issues rather than political and security ones. However, the war launched nine months ago by Vladimir Putin is having a profound economic impact globally, leading to soaring energy and food prices.
Summit host Indonesia, echoing the position of many countries of the South, has called for peace negotiations and has declined to condemn Moscow directly.
Vladimir Putin, who decided not to attend the G20 summit and is being represented by his diplomatic chief Sergei Lavrov, is under pressure to extend the existing agreement allowing Ukrainian grain exports, which expires on 19 November.
