Trump Administration Welcomes Russia Back to G20 as Europe Pushes Back
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has signaled support for readmitting Russia to G20 gatherings, a move European countries are resisting.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has indicated it is open to including Russia once again in G20 meetings. Statements from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent point to a shift in Washington's approach toward Moscow's participation in major international forums.
A Reversal After Years of Isolation
The move represents a sharp break from how the United States handled such gatherings in the years following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In the aftermath of the invasion, the US and other Western nations had distanced themselves from Russian participation in high-level international meetings, effectively sidelining Moscow from several global platforms.
European Pushback
European countries, however, are not aligned with this new US position and are resisting the push to bring Russia back into the G20 fold. The disagreement highlights a deeper rift between Washington and its European allies over how to engage with Russia more than three years after the war in Ukraine began.
The question of Russia's potential return to major international institutions remains a sensitive issue in transatlantic relations, and this episode suggests that the US and European positions on the matter continue to diverge.
