To mend world economy
NUSA DUA, Indonesia—US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen heaped pressure on Russia on Monday ahead of the G20 summit in Indonesia, saying the best way to end world economic tumult was to stop the Ukraine war.
“Ending Russia’s war is a moral imperative and the single best thing we can do for the global economy,” Yellen told reporters as she met French counterpart Bruno Le Maire in Nusa Dua, on the resort island of Bali.
High fuel and food prices are among the top issues set to be discussed at the summit and few G20 countries have escaped the economic pain.
Yellen hopes to build diplomatic pressure to end the war by blaming Russia.
Host Indonesia has called for talks and a peaceful resolution to the conflict but, like fellow G20 members China, South Africa and India, has largely avoided criticising Russia directly.
The summit is also expected to discuss the need to extend a Turkish and UN-brokered agreement allowing vital Ukrainian grain and fertilizer exports to transit safely through the Black Sea.
Ukraine is one of the world’s largest producers of both products. Russian President Vladimir Putin had appeared to walk away from the agreement but faced a sharp backlash from developing countries.
The current agreement expires on November 19. Le Maire underscored the need to counteract the effects of Russia’s invasion, namely on soaring fuel prices in Europe.
“I really think that the first issue that we have on the table is how to bring down energy prices and how to get rid of inflation,” he said.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak headed to his debut G20 summit Sunday urging world powers to unite against the exploitation of the global economy by “malign actors.”
After becoming the UK’s third premier this year, Sunak is set to have his first bilateral meetings with US President Joe Biden and other world leaders at the summit in Bali, Indonesia.
Beyond supporting Western unity against Russia over Ukraine, Sunak wants allies to shore up the international financial system including the World Trade Organization, according to Downing Street.
Developing nations must have access to credit for economic growth without becoming reliant on “exploitative” lenders, Sunak is expected to tell the summit, echoing past G7 criticism of China.
The WTO should be reformed to curb the “manipulation of global markets by malign actors”, he will also say in another coded critique of G20 member China.
Sunak’s pre-summit warnings against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime have been clearer.
“We will call out Putin’s regime and lay bare their utter contempt for the kind of international cooperation and respect for sovereignty forums like the G20 represent,” he said in a statement Saturday.
While Putin is not attending the summit, Sunak’s spokesman said the prime minister would confront Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Bali.
Some pundits had queried whether Sunak might go soft on Russia in view of the economic crisis affecting Britain, on the back of surging energy prices.
But Sunak’s spokesman told reporters that Britain’s support for Ukraine “will not fade or alter”.
In Bali, Sunak “will speak with our allies in one voice on this”, the spokesman added.
Sunak is due to return to Britain early on Thursday and head straight into his finance minister’s presentation of an emergency budget statement.
The statement is expected to include painful tax hikes and spending cuts, after Sunak’s short-lived predecessor Liz Truss panicked markets with a spree of unfunded tax cuts.
Sunak said Thursday’s budget would “set out how we will get this country on the right path”.
“But addressing the biggest economic crisis in a decade will require a concerted effort by the world’s largest economies -– these are not problems we can solve alone,” he said before flying to Bali.
“At the G20, leaders need to step up to fix the weaknesses in the international economic system which Putin has exploited for years.”
