U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Group of 20 finance chiefs had productive talks in Indonesia about a proposal to cap the prices countries would pay for Russian oil.
However, the official G20 finance ministers summit ended on July 16 without a final communique as differences on how to characterize and respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prevented unanimity within the group.
Instead of a formal communique, a 14-paragraph statement would be issued by Indonesia, according to Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the host of the formal event.
She said there was consensus on most of the document but that two paragraphs would focus on members' differences regarding the war's impacts and the next steps to take.
Yellen, meanwhile, said progress was made on a potential cap on Russian oil prices in talks on the sidelines of the summit.
"On energy costs, I had productive bilateral meetings with over a half-dozen of my counterparts where we discussed the merits of a price cap and how it can help us achieve our goals of denying [Russian President Vladimir] Putin revenue for his war machine, while dampening energy costs," Yellen told reporters.
A price cap would be "our most powerful tools to address the high prices people are facing in America and around the world," she said.
Russian Deputy Finance Minister Timur Maksimov attended the talks in person. A week earlier, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov walked out of a G20 meeting over Western criticism of the invasion.
Maksimov was in the room as Western officials expressed their condemnation, a source at the event told AFP.
Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko participated virtually in the meeting.