The White House supports Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s decision not to participate in a recent G20 meeting once Russian officials began speaking, spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Wednesday (local time).
“The President and Secretary Yellen have both said that we can’t have business as usual at the G20 or in a lot of these international forums as it relates to Russia, and she and the Treasury team made clear that she was planning to participate in some and not other meetings, which certainly is something that we support,” Psaki said, according to Sputnik. Yellen, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and other officials boycotted the meeting due to the participation of Russian officials, according to a Washington Post report earlier on Wednesday.
The Treasury Secretary will work to advance important business at the G20 while also voicing strong condemnation of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, the report said, citing an anonymous Biden administration official.
On Monday, the White House said that Yellen will not participate in G20 events during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring meetings this week in which Russian representatives are present.