Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland joined officials from other national governments in a walkout at a G20 meeting Wednesday when the Russian delegation spoke at the event.
In a tweet Wednesday afternoon, Freeland — who is in Washington, D.C. for the meeting of finance ministers and central bank chiefs — said Russia “should not be participating or included in these meetings” because of its invasion of Ukraine.
“This week’s meetings in Washington are about supporting the world economy – and Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is a grave threat to the global economy,” Freeland said in the tweet.
She added that the world’s democracies wanted to send a message to Russia with the walkout.
“The world’s democracies will not stand idly by in the face of continued Russian aggression and war crimes,” Freeland tweeted.
This week’s meetings in Washington are about supporting the world economy – and Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is a grave threat to the global economy. Russia should not be participating or included in these meetings. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/G20?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#G20</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/IMFMeetings?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#IMFMeetings</a>
—@cafreeland
Freeland has spoken out before against Russian war crimes in Ukraine and has said Canada will work with allies to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has called for Russia to be suspended from the G20.
Other finance leaders seen walking out include Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, Chair of the United States Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
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