IMFC members walk out in protest during Siluanov's speech at IMF meetings in Bangkok

At the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Bangkok, an event occurred that participants described as a demonstrative gesture of solidarity with Ukraine. On Saturday, during the plenary session of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) — a key advisory body of the IMF — some committee members walked out of the hall during the speech by Russian Federation Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing a correspondent from the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

“They saw that I stood up and did the same”

The first to rise from the hall was Andriy Pyshnyy, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine. According to him, after he stood up and walked out during Siluanov's speech, “a huge group of heads and ministers joined in and walked out of the hall.” Pyshnyy noted that he did not expect such a large-scale reaction: “They saw that I stood up and walked out, and did the same.” Thus, the departure from the hall took on the character of a collective, coordinated gesture initiated by the Ukrainian side and supported by a number of other delegations.

Siluanov's return to the IMFC after four years

Siluanov's speech marked his first participation in an IMFC meeting since February 2022, the start of Russia's full-scale military conflict against Ukraine. Throughout this period, the Russian delegation has systematically been absent from key IMF sessions, making its return a noticeable and politically sensitive event. The very fact that Siluanov was granted access to the IMFC rostrum had already sparked discussions among forum participants even before his speech began.

High-level Russian delegation in Bangkok

For the first time since the start of the full-scale war, a high-level Russian delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk arrived in Bangkok. Overchuk is under sanctions by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ukraine in connection with Russian aggression. For Siluanov, who is also under sanctions, the visit to Thailand was his second such event since the start of the war: on August 31 – September 1, 2026, he attended the G20 finance ministers meeting in Asheville (North Carolina, USA) at the invitation of the American organizers.

G20 precedent and repetition of the scenario

Siluanov's participation in Asheville had already provoked a sharp reaction from European delegations, who called his presence an “alarming signal” and refused to take a joint photograph with the Russian minister. A similar scenario repeated in Bangkok: a joint photo featuring the Russian delegation at the IMF and World Bank Group Annual Meetings did not take place. Thus, the demonstrative walkout during Siluanov's speech became a logical continuation of the line pursued by Western and Ukrainian participants over recent months.

Context and significance of the gesture

The event in Bangkok took place against the backdrop of ongoing discussions about the role of the IMF amid geopolitical fragmentation and the extent to which international financial institutions are prepared to maintain neutrality on issues related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The demonstrative walkout by IMFC members — a body comprising central bank governors and finance ministers of the world's largest economies — served as a public signal that for a significant part of the international financial community, the presence of Russian officials at such venues remains unacceptable.