Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov made a surprise in-person appearance at G20 finance talks hosted by the United States in Asheville, North Carolina, his first attendance at such a meeting since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Siluanov held a bilateral meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, which a US official said focused on President Donald Trump's peace plan for Ukraine, while European ministers expressed sharp frustration at the move, with Germany's Lars Klingbeil calling it a "troubling" signal of normalisation and several European officials refusing to appear alongside Siluanov in the traditional group photograph. The White House defended the engagement, saying the administration would not shy away from talks needed to advance a peace deal, though reports indicate Bessent made clear that economic relief for Russia would not come until the war ends.