According to one person familiar with the matter, the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagardeconfronted the Russian Finance Minister in Bangkok over the war in Ukraine.
In a closed-door meeting held on Saturday before the plenary session of the highest advisory body of the International Monetary Fund, she asked Anton Siluanov to tell the president Vladimir Putin that war hinders prosperity and that economic growth can only be achieved with peace, according to the source. This person preferred to remain anonymous because the meeting was private.
Siluanov She was wearing headphones to listen to the simultaneous translation and thus understand what Lagarde was saying, the source added.
An ECB spokesman declined to comment on the meeting.
The president’s statements mark a change of approach. Since the conflict began in 2022, he previously joined European officials who walked out of previous plenary sessions of the CI omitted International Monetary and Financial, as the body that brings together finance ministers and central bankers from around the world is called, in protest against the Russian finance minister.
During his speech before the plenary session of the imfc On Saturday, he also referred to Russia’s “unjustified war against Ukraine.” In said statement, Lagarde highlighted the importance of sound public finances, arguing that fiscal sustainability remains a “fundamental pillar” for economic stability.
Russia and Ukraine continued to exchange attacks throughout the night. On Sunday, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskystated that the United States is sharing intelligence information again after it was blocked for “some time.”
