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AzerNEWS Staff

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Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has said Moscow and Washington have identified potential areas of common ground for developing financial and economic ties, calling for continued dialogue between the two countries.

Speaking after his bilateral meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the sidelines of the G20 finance leaders’ meeting in North Carolina, Siluanov said Russia and the United States should seek to develop areas of mutual economic interest despite ongoing complications in bilateral relations.

“If we find strong points of common interest — and they do exist — we need to develop them,” Siluanov said, according to Interfax. He added that progress on economic issues could eventually make it easier to address political disagreements.

Siluanov, who said the meeting was his first with Bessent, argued that financial officials can sometimes find common ground more quickly than politicians.

“So we must always keep talking; we need to continue the dialogue,” he said.

The comments come amid renewed high-level US-Russia contacts under the administration of President Donald Trump, although major obstacles remain between Washington and Moscow.

According to Reuters, Bessent told Siluanov during their meeting that no economic relief for Russia or agreements on other issues would be possible until the war in Ukraine ends.

The meeting nevertheless marked a notable return of Russian economic officials to a US-hosted G20 setting. Siluanov's attendance in Asheville was his first in-person participation at a G20 meeting since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

European officials have expressed concern over Russia's participation, with German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil describing Moscow's return to the G20 discussions as a potentially troubling signal.

For now, Siluanov's remarks point to exploratory economic engagement rather than an agreement to lift sanctions or restore normal financial relations.