Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov attended the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors summit held in Asheville, North Carolina, on 2026-08-31, at the invitation of the administration of US President Donald Trump; it was his first attendance at the summit since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. ^[1] A consortium of 21 financial entities, including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Deutsche Bank, announced plans to create a company to issue a dollar-pegged cryptocurrency. ^[2] In 2025, official development assistance from European Union donor countries fell by nearly 10 percent in real terms, according to the OECD. ^[3] European officials at the G20 summit in Asheville strongly criticized and protested the surprise appearance of Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. ^[4] German Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told journalists that he rebuked Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov during an initial session of the G20 meeting, demanding that Russia end the war and promising continued support to Ukraine. ^[5] The consortium initially announced the project in October 2025 with only ten participating banks before expanding to 21 members. ^[6] The group announced its intention to launch the stablecoin in the first half of 2027. ^[7] 81 percent of respondents in the survey said that knowing how the money is used would strengthen their support for international cooperation. ^[8] An AFD-IFOP survey found that three-quarters of people across G7 countries still support assistance to developing countries, yet almost half agreed that international cooperation could be a waste of public money. ^[9] The author argues that skepticism creates a cycle where budget cuts erode the capacity to deliver visible outcomes, which then confirms the original doubt and accelerates further cuts. ^[10] On 2026-02-16, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that the United States will continue exerting pressure on Iran and that 'very good discussions' had taken place at the G20 meetings, a day after renewed exchanges of fire with Tehran. ^[11] On 2026-02-16, White House spokesman Kush Desai told Agence France-Presse that the Trump administration has been working with Russia to push for a deal that would 'stop the endless bloodshed' and would never shy away from talking with people needed for that. ^[12]