Jakarta –
Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Russia’s participation in the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Bali overshadowed by its invasion of Ukraine made no sense. He said that Russia’s presence only exacerbated the problem.
Reported by AFP on Sunday (17/7/2022) the event which was held for two days and was attended by the country’s Finance Ministers discussed solutions to the food and energy crisis caused by the war. Freeland said his government protested the meeting that they didn’t even want Russia to be there.
“Russia’s presence in this meeting is like inviting the arsonists to a meeting of firefighters,” he said at a press conference by telephone from Bali.
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“That’s because Russia is directly and solely responsible for the illegal invasion of Ukraine, and its economic consequences, which are felt by all of us,” Freeland said.
“We are clear and explicit that Russia’s participation is inappropriate and frankly, unreasonable,” said Freeland, who is also deputy prime minister of Canadian and Ukrainian descent.
He said Russian technocrats working to finance the war launched by President Vladimir Putin were as involved in war crimes as the generals on the ground attacking Ukraine. Freeland also defended Canada’s decision to allow the return of turbines to Germany, which were repaired in Canada for use in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that delivers Russian gas to Europe. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky strongly condemned this decision.
“The energy challenges facing Germany and many of our European partners are very real. And Canada recognizes that,” he said.
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