By Tyler Durden
Late Monday, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov made an unexpected appearance after his official US invite, and then was welcomed by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for a bilateral meeting.
This marks Russia's first in-person invite to the G20 since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022 - and it is happening while the US holds the rotating G20 presidency and is playing host.
The two officials reportedly focused their talks economic cooperation and on finding a way forward on finding a peace deal in Ukraine. According to the focus of the diplomatic interaction:
- In a statement, Russia's Finance Ministry said the talks covered financial issues between the two nations and G20 engagement.
- Bessent ruled out economic relief for Moscow as long as the war in Ukraine continues, according to a source familiar with the meeting. When Siluanov raised potential areas for cooperation, Bessent interrupted the official and made clear there'd be no progress until the war ends, the source added.
Despite Washington's effort to seize the opportunity for the sake of much-needed diplomacy with Moscow, at a moment the Ukraine war has been continually escalating, European officials vented to the press over the unwanted Kremlin presence.
Claire's Observations:
What was Bessent thinking?
Is the guy"neurodivergent" enough to have invited Siluanov as his guest for the G20, only to interrupt him and tell him that no progress on economic issues would be possible until the Ukraine/Russian war ended?!? Was the aim to shame/humiliate the man?
And with all the antipathy of the current members of the G20 toward Russia because of the war, what kind of reception did Bessent believe he would get for Siluanov from his European counterparts?!?
Did he envision everyone holding hands and singing "Kumbyah"?!?
Folks, I am having a Jean-Luc Picard "double palm to forehead" moment, at velocity upon reading this; Bessent exhibited all the charm, intelligence, and savoir fair.... of a pissed off troglodyte, with this absolutely churlish behaviour.
Was this stunt engineered to make Bessent look "macho"to his G20 "captive audience"?!?
Because if THAT was the "design intent" of this invitation, Bessent failed miserably, and simply succeeded in making relations between the US and Russia even more fractious than they already are.
The timing of this "verbal throw-down on Bessent's part, was was nothing short of wildly inappropriate, and for the following reason, as shared by Throck, my AI:
"On August 27, 2026, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia could target British military installations and equipment, inside Ukraine and beyond Ukraine's borders, if Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory continue using British weapons.She also accused Britain of coming close to becoming legally complicit, in Russia's characterization, in attacks on Russian civilians, and warned of "catastrophic consequences." That's considerably more serious than the usual Russian diplomatic complaint."
The UK is, of course, a NATO country, and any attack against it, could trigger the invocation of Article 5 of the NATO Charter, stating that an attack against one NATO country, can be construed as an attack against ALL NATO signatories, leading to a declaration of war.
In behaving the way he did, Bessent - who has absolutely zero military background whatsoever - may well have brought the moment of a US/NATO/European war against Russia, far closer to reality than it has ever before.
I hope I am absolutely dead-wrong on this, because right now, the US doesn't have the troop strength; the money; the weaponry; or the manufacturing to insure NATO's and/or the US military's success in such a war against Russia.
