The surprise appearance of the Russian finance minister at the G-20 fuels doubts about Trump's intentions
The European members, enraged, suspect that Washington is getting closer and closer to Moscow
WashingtonLast week was the CIA director's secret trip to Moscow, John Ratcliffe. Now, it has been the surprise appearance of the Russian finance minister, Anton Siluanov, at the G-20 meeting being held this week in Asheville, North Carolina. Siluanov's presence at the meeting of central bankers and ministers of the group of nations has infuriated European members, who are already on edge due to the White House's secrecy about the latest moves with Russia that are glimpsed behind the scenes. It had been four years, since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, that the Russian finance minister had physically attended the meeting. Coincidence or not, the last time a CIA director had traveled to Moscow before now was in November 2021.
The European partners already pressured the summit host, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, so that Siluanov would not be in the family photo and the German Finance Minister, Lars Klingbeil, made it clear to journalists that he reprimanded his Russian counterpart for the invasion during the initial session. Another expression of the deeply concerned that has been popular in Brussels lately.
Ratcliffe's trip last week raised a few eyebrows in Europe and fueled speculation about whether the Russian president is planning some other action against NATO allies. But outside the Old Continent, there is another piece that may be incentivizing this new rapprochement from the White House to the Kremlin: Iran and the economic war that Donald Trump's administration wants to launch in the face of the military front's stagnation. Russia maintains close economic and political ties with Iran, strengthened in recent years by the pressure of US sanctions, which have pushed both countries to shift their commercial axis towards China.
When Bessent last week announced the framework of new sanctions it wants to apply against Tehran, it promised to attack all foreign entities and structures that facilitate the regime evadir les sancions i fer contraban de petroli. La maniobra financera, que Bessent ha batejat com "operació Marginat Econòmic", busca provocar un "aïllament global total" de l'economia iraniana. Tot, amb la finalitat d'aconseguir reobrir l'estret d'Ormuz i retornar el flux del comerç energètic a l'estadi previ de la guerra iniciada pels EUA i Israel.Although at the time of the announcement the focus was on China – the main importer of Iranian oil – achieving this isolation also implies that Russia has to move away from one of its main partners in the last four years. How Washington intends to achieve this remains a question. Last week Bessent avoided saying whether the Treasury would dare to cross certain lines with Beijing to successfully conduct its business.
The Treasury Secretary opted for caution also because it is planned that next September 24 the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will meet with Trump at the White House. Predictably, the war in Iran will be one of the topics of conversation. Meanwhile, the US government is opening channels of conversation with Russian representatives, whether at the G-20 or the Kremlin. This Tuesday, Bessent said within the framework of the summit that he would very likely announce banking sanctions this week as part of his economic campaign against Iran.
US image problems
Beyond the standoff with the Islamic Republic, the G-20 also faces the risk of an economic slowdown and rising inflation, according to IMF forecasts. A panorama that includes the current situation in the Middle East and the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, which has already been ongoing for half a year.
The image of the US as a stabilizing power has been badly damaged, not only as a guarantor of geopolitical order but also of economic stability. Beyond the blockade of Hormuz, there is another element that looms over the G-20 summit and the tug-of-war with the trio of China, Russia, and Iran: US debt has already soared to 40 trillion dollars.
In this kind of gap that is emerging, on the other side of the world, China has been mirroring the G-20 held in North Carolina. In Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Xi Jinping sent a clear message to the Trump administration: Beijing has friends and influence, and can be a source of stability for the emerging "multipolar order." The Chinese leader appeared surrounded by his Russian and Iranian counterparts, precisely the two countries at war with the Western bloc. No American representative was invited to Bishkek, while in Asheville, Washington decided to offer a seat to the Russian finance minister, despite the rejection this gesture has provoked among the rest of its allies.