Nine European Nations Protest IMF’s Plans to Resume Consultations with Russia

Nine European countries, including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, and Poland, have formally protested the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) decision to resume consultations with Russia. In a letter to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, the finance ministers of these nations expressed deep dissatisfaction with the plan, stating that it would severely damage the Fund’s reputation. The IMF had halted its annual consultations with Russia following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The IMF’s Russian executive director, Aleksei Mozhin, recently announced that the Fund would re-initiate online consultations with Russia on September 16 and follow up with an in-person delegation visit to Moscow. The nine protesting nations argued that resuming dialogue with Russia, a country that has waged war against Ukraine, contradicts the values and principles of the UN Charter. They emphasized that Russia, as an aggressor state, should not benefit from IMF advice and warned that the move could undermine donor support for Ukraine.

The protesting countries also raised concerns that any data provided by Russia to the IMF would be manipulated to portray the Russian economy as resilient against Western sanctions, thus compromising the accuracy of the IMF’s assessments. Additionally, they cautioned that Moscow could use the mission for propaganda purposes. The IMF, however, defended its decision, stating that the planned visit was in line with its obligations to all member countries, including Russia.

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