G20: Yellen says 'no business as usual' with Putin's Russia

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday said the Russian invasion of Ukraine posed the main threat to the global economy and was sending inflation soaring across the world.  

She was speaking on the sidelines of the gathering of finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the Group of 20 major economies in Bali, Indonesia.

Yellen said it "cannot be business as usual" with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

 "I think I've made clear that it cannot be business as usual with respect to Russia's participation at these meetings," she said.

Will Western officials walk out again?

Yellen urged the global community to hold Russia accountable for its actions in Ukraine.

"The international community must be clear-eyed about holding Putin accountable for  the global economic and humanitarian consequences of his war," she said

The last time such a meeting was held, in Washington in April, she and other Western leaders walked out when Russian officials spoke.

Yellen, however, refused to give a clear answer on whether she would do the same in Bali.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov will address the meeting virtually rather than attend the Bali talks in person.

How's the war affecting the global economy?

Yellen said Russia's war against Ukraine posed the greatest challenge to the world economy by raising the costs of everything from food to fuel and endangering the gains made worldwide in terms of reducing hunger and poverty in recent decades. 

"We are seeing negative spillover effects from that war in every corner of the world, particularly with respect to higher energy prices, and rising food insecurity," she said.

Yellen's comments come a day after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the global economic outlook had "darkened significantly."

The IMF is "projecting a further downgrade to global growth" in 2022 and 2023, the financial institution's chief Kristalina Georgieva said in a blog post published ahead of the G20 gathering.

What did Yellen say about a price cap on Russian oil?

Yellen also said she would continue to push hard for a price cap on Russian oil to weaken Moscow's finances and its ability to wage war. The measure would also help bring down soaring energy costs for consumers, she argued.

Oil prices have soared, partly due to the war in Ukraine, pushing up energy costs across the world.

"A price cap on Russian oil is one of our most powerful tools to address the pain Americans and families across the world are feeling at the gas pump and the grocery store right now, a limit on the price of Russian oil," she said.

A limit on oil price would also deny Putin "the revenue his war machine needs," she added.

The US Treasury chief expressed hope that China and India would join such a cap, saying that it was in their interest to participate.

"It will give Russia a way to continue exporting oil ... and it will help consumers throughout the world, including in China and in India, avoid a spike in global oil prices," she said.

sri/sms (Reuters, AFP, AP)