Asheville (United States) (AFP) - The United States, which hopes to rally European countries to support its economic war against Iran, displeased its partners on Monday, by inviting a Russian minister to a meeting of G20 finance ministers.

Published on: 08/31/2026 - 10:43 Last updated: 09/01/2026 - 02:17

This year, the United States chairs the group of major global economies that includes China, India, Japan, France, and others. The meetings are held in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Asheville, North Carolina.

The first meeting, which continues until Tuesday, brings together finance ministers and central bank governors.

The host, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent, intends to use the event to promote his policies, especially those related to easing regulatory restrictions, as well as to persuade other countries to increase Tehran's isolation.

Besant was assigned to lead an economic war against Iran based on sanctions, after Washington failed to push the Islamic Republic to respond to its demands militarily.

"We will continue to pressure Tehran. We have had good discussions here," Besant said before the opening of the first session of the summit, a few hours after exchanging bombardment with Iran for the first time in a month.

In a statement, the European Union expressed during its participation in the G20 summit its willingness to tighten its own sanctions.

However, tensions emerged on Monday due to another war, which is the war that Russia has been waging in Ukraine since 2022.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov attended the G20 meeting, where he met with his American counterpart to discuss the Ukrainian file, which angered representatives of European countries.

Siluanov's attendance was not announced until after he appeared among other G20 delegates.

The US Treasury Department announced that Pisant met with him separately on Monday morning.

The presence of the Russian minister aroused the dissatisfaction of German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil.

The German minister told reporters that during the plenary session, "I told him very clearly that the Russian government must end this war (...) and that we support Ukraine in an unequivocal way."

He explained that he and representatives of other European countries requested that Siluanov be excluded from the “group photo” that will be taken for the participants in the meeting on Tuesday, and the host party granted this request.

He added, "Receiving the Russian Minister of Finance here sends a message that I consider disturbing," stressing that he would have preferred for the United States to clarify that he was "not an ordinary guest."

White House spokesman assigned to Asheville, Kush Desai, told AFP that "the President (Trump) and his administration are not afraid to engage in dialogue with decision-makers" with the aim of "ending the endless bloodshed" in Ukraine.

A source familiar with the content of the conversation between Besant and Solyanov, requesting that his name not be revealed, said that the US Treasury Secretary made it clear to his Russian counterpart that “the United States will not grant Russia any economic reprieve as long as the war in Ukraine continues.”

Later, Trump said from the White House, "We'll see what happens. But we like to get along with everyone. One of the reasons for my great success is that I get along with everyone."

Trade war with Canada

US tariffs are another point of tension. Despite the Supreme Court invalidating most of it, the Trump administration does not intend to abandon its policy of imposing tariffs on imports, and it has recently escalated its trade war with Canada, its neighbor and partner in the G20 and G7.

Canadian Minister François-Philippe Champagne confirmed that he came with a "positive mentality" and that he was "ready for dialogue," before joining the large table around which closed discussions were being held.

The G20 was established following the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 with the aim of promoting global economic and financial stability. It includes 19 countries and two regional blocs, the European Union and the African Union.

The United States excluded South Africa from this year's meetings, which it accuses, without conclusive evidence, of persecuting white farmers.

Another country with fraught relations with the Donald Trump administration is Brazil, headed by leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, which did not send its finance minister to the summit.

The United States invited Poland, which is not a member of the group, to all meetings in appreciation of the rapid economic expansion of this eastern European country.

In the United States, there were reports that journalists from well-known American media outlets were denied credentials.

A spokesman for the Bloomberg economic news agency told AFP on Saturday evening that the agency had not received the necessary entry permit to cover the events. On Sunday, Bloomberg condemned “a violation of press freedom and transparency towards the public.”

The New York Times, for its part, reported that its correspondent assigned to cover Treasury Ministry affairs did not obtain the necessary permission.

The Treasury Department responded by recalling that it had granted accreditation permits to approximately 300 media professionals, expecting coverage “based on facts” and not “creating a stir.”

The cycle of G20 meetings ends in mid-December with a summit of heads of state at Donald Trump's luxury golf resort in Miami, Florida.

© 2026 AFP

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