France urges Russia not to attend G20 meeting

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire urged his Russian counterpart not to take part in Wednesday's meeting with finance ministers from the Group of 20 economic powers. "We demand that Russia ceases right now its military action and we ask Russia to refrain from attending G20 meetings. War is not compatible with international cooperation," Le Maire said during the meeting by an online connection.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire urged his Russian counterpart not to take part in Wednesday's meeting with finance ministers from the Group of 20 economic powers.

"We demand that Russia ceases right now its military action and we ask Russia to refrain from attending G20 meetings. War is not compatible with international cooperation," Le Maire said during the meeting by an online connection. He left the meeting before his Russian counterpart spoke, a finance ministry official said, adding that Le Maire was referring specifically to Tuesday's meeting. The official added that his message was shared by several other G7 finance ministers.