The President of the Central Bank The European Union has asked the Russian Finance Minister to convey to Putin that war has stopped prosperity and that peace is a necessary condition for economic growth.
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18/10/2026
by
Lusa
A president of the European Central Bank (ECB) asked the Russian Finance Minister to convey to the Russian President that the war has stopped prosperity and that peace is a necessary condition for boosting economic growth.
The request was made during a closed-door meeting in Bangkok before the plenary session of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (CMFI), the advisory body of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which brings together finance ministers and central bank governors from around the world, according to Bloomberg, citing sources close to the meeting.
During the conversation, the president of the ECB, Christine Lagarde, urged Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to convey to Russian President Vladimir Putin that “war prevents prosperity” and that “economic growth can only be achieved with peace”, according to the same source.
The Russian minister used headphones to accompany the simultaneous translation, so he could understand Lagarde’s words.
For the time being, the ECB has not spoken about the meeting or the words attributed to Lagarde, which would represent a change from the attitude maintained at previous CMFI meetings since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Until now, the President of the ECB had joined other European representatives who were leaving plenary sessions when the Russian minister spoke as a gesture of protest against Moscow's presence in the forum.
In addition to the geopolitical situation, the President of the ECB defended the need to preserve healthy public accounts. In this regard, it stressed that fiscal sustainability remains a “ crucial reference point” to maintain economic stability.