Russia's finance minister attended a Group of 20 meeting in Bangkok on Thursday, his second in-person appearance at the event since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, testing how far Washington's rapprochement with Moscow will strain ties with Europe.
Anton Siluanov and Bank of Russia Deputy Governor Elizaveta Danilova were listed as Russia's delegates at the finance ministers and central bank governors' meetings on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, according to a seating plan seen by CNBC. Siluanov was in the meeting, according to a person familiar with the matter.
According to the layout document, Russian delegates were seated between attendees from South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil was also listed as an attendee. At the August G20 finance meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, he told Siluanov that Moscow must end the war and declined to pose in a group photo with him. The traditional group photo was ultimately taken without the Russian delegation after European officials protested.
Klingbeil has pushed back on the U.S. efforts to bring Russia back on to the international stage, reportedly saying after the Thursday meeting that "there will be no pretending that Russia is now returning as a normal member of the G20 and simply taking its seat at the table again — not with me, and not with the other Europeans."