European delegates walk out as Russian minister addresses IMF committee in Bangkok

As Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov began addressing the International Monetary Fund’s steering committee in Russian, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and other European finance leaders left the room in Bangkok.

The coordinated protest came on Saturday, 17 October 2026, during the annual IMF and World Bank meetings, which drew more than 18,000 people. Bailey was joined by counterparts from France and Germany, as well as delegates from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Nearly a dozen delegates left as Siluanov spoke. Joachim Nagel, the president of Germany’s Bundesbank, said nearly half of all delegates departed together.

The walkout centred on Russia’s war against Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and its participation has since prevented the International Monetary and Financial Committee from issuing consensus statements.

For the European delegates, the dispute was about whether Russia could resume a normal role in international economic institutions while the war continued. “The Ukraine war is existential for us in Europe. We cannot normalise relations with Russia,” a European diplomat said.

Germany had warned on Thursday against efforts to return Russia to the international stage. The warning followed the US decision to host Siluanov’s first in-person G20 appearance since the invasion, at a meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, just over a month before the IMF meetings.

The US Treasury made the case for engagement. “We think it's really important if you're going to solve a crisis, you need to have open dialogue and open conversation,” said Erin Browne, the Treasury undersecretary.

Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Saudi finance minister and chair of the IMF steering committee, said the gathering had still produced agreement. “We came here for a reason, and we achieved it. Look at this chair statement, it clearly says that all members agreed to the statement, so that's what matters,” he said.

Al-Jadaan said the global economy was showing “remarkable resilience” despite wars, threats to energy and food security, high public debt and risks tied to the rapid development of artificial intelligence.

The chair statement gave the meeting a formal display of unity. The walkout showed how sharply that unity remains constrained by the war in Ukraine.