On 31 August, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is holding talks with delegations from G20 countries in Asheville, where Russia is represented by a high-level delegation. At the same time, Moscow announced the continuation of economic dialogue with Washington, whilst Vladimir Putin said that Russia was «moving» towards a peaceful settlement.
Briefly about the main points
- Bessent is holding bilateral meetings at the G20 finance meeting in Asheville.
- Russia has confirmed that a high-level delegation will be attending.
- Moscow has stated that the economic dialogue with Washington is continuing.
- Putin replied to Modi that Russia was «moving» towards a peaceful resolution.
- The Russian media interpreted Putin’s remarks as an indication that Russia was moving towards a resolution of the war against Ukraine.
Bessent is holding talks at the G20 summit in the US
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent On 31 August, he will hold a series of talks as part of the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in Asheville, North Carolina.
Fox Business reports that Bessent is meeting with representatives of various countries G20 and is seeking to secure their support for the administration’s key foreign trade initiatives Donald Trump.
On 11 August, the Russian side officially announced that it was preparing to take part in the meeting on 31 August – 1 September «at a high level», in particular at the level of finance ministers and central bank governors.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is currently holding a meeting with a Russian delegation, which includes, amongst others, Sergey Lavrov, according to CNBC. According to the television channel, the US side is pushing for 28-point peace plan Donald Trump’s stance on ending the war in Ukraine.
Moscow has announced that it will continue its dialogue with the US
Almost at the same time, the Russian President’s Special Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation Kirill Dmitriev stated that contacts between Moscow and Washington are continuing.
According to him, the parties are engaged in dialogue, in particular on economic matters. Dmitriev also stated that Moscow had a position on «peaceful measures».
This adds a further layer of political context to the current G20 summit in the US, although the substance of any direct contacts between American and Russian representatives has not yet been made public.
Putin has announced that progress is being made towards ending the war
Another statement was made on 31 August by Vladimir Putin during a meeting with the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.
Modi stated that problems must be resolved by peaceful means and called for progress to be made in this direction.
Putin replied:
«That is the path we are following.».
The Russian media interpreted his words as a statement that the Russian Federation is moving towards a resolution of the war against Ukraine.
Thus, the statement that «Russia is moving towards a resolution of the conflict in Ukraine», is a summary of Putin’s position. He said, word for word, that Russia was «moving in this direction» following Modi’s call for a peaceful resolution.
Does this mark the start of a new phase in the negotiations?
For the time being, it is too early to talk about a specific new an agreement between the US and Russia It is too early to say. However, several developments are unfolding simultaneously: the Russian delegation is taking part in the G20 finance meeting in the US, Moscow has announced the continuation of US-Russian dialogue, and Putin is publicly speaking of progress towards a settlement.
The economic aspect of these contacts is particularly noteworthy. Bessent had already taken part in earlier negotiations with Russian representatives, during which, alongside the issue of the war, economic relations between the two countries were discussed.
The key question now is whether, following the meetings in Asheville, there will be official confirmation of separate talks between the US and Russian delegations, and whether these talks directly concerned Russia’s war against Ukraine.
