Canada Tells Putin’s Technocrats They’re Liable for War Crimes

Canada warned a Russian delegation participating in a meeting of Group of 20 finance chiefs this week that it views President Vladimir Putin’s economic advisers as personally responsible for aiding war crimes.

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(Bloomberg) — Canada warned a Russian delegation participating in a meeting of Group of 20 finance chiefs this week that it views President Vladimir Putin’s economic advisers as personally responsible for aiding war crimes.

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“Russia’s economic technocrats, who work to fund Putin’s war machine, are personally complicit in Russia’s war crimes, just as Putin’s generals are,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said she told the group.

Freeland, who has Ukrainian heritage and has long been an outspoken critic of Putin, slammed Russia’s participation at the meetings in Bali, Indonesia, earlier this week.

“Russia’s presence at this meeting was like inviting an arsonist to a meeting of firefighters,” she told reporters while en route back to Canada on Saturday. “That’s because Russia is directly and solely responsible for the illegal invasion of Ukraine and its economic consequences, which are being felt by us all.”

In the official sessions, all country representatives reportedly remained in the room when Russian officials spoke on the first day, in contrast to an earlier G-20 gathering that featured a US-led walkout. The meeting ended without the usual communique amid division over Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

Separately, Freeland, who doubles as the finance minister, said Canada’s battle against a four-decade-high inflation rate was a fight primarily for the central bank. 

“The job of ensuring that inflation is within target is chiefly the responsibility of the Bank of Canada,” Freeland said when asked if she has any tools to slow inflation. “We respect the independence of the Bank of Canada and we are confident that the Bank of Canada has the tools and the expertise to do its job.”