US Treasury Secretary Bessent met Russian counterpart Siluanov at G20
The pair discussed Donald Trump's plan to end the Ukraine war, with European officials objecting to Siluanov's presence.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
US Treasury Secretary Bessent met Russian counterpart Siluanov at G20
Photograph: Meduza (embedded from source)
What this story says
- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.
- The two officials discussed U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
- Sources also indicated that Bessent and Siluanov discussed economic cooperation between their countries.
- European governments objected to Siluanov's participation, leading to his absence from a traditional group photo.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 7 of the 13 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
50/100
Craft
45/100
Hype
20/100
13 sources · methodology
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. According to reports, Bessent and Siluanov discussed U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Sources also indicated that the two officials discussed economic cooperation between their countries.
Siluanov's presence at the G20 meeting marked his first in-person attendance at such an event since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The participation of the Russian minister prompted objections from European governments. German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil and his counterparts threatened to boycott the traditional group photo if Siluanov was included. Ultimately, Siluanov did not appear in the group photo.
Disagreement on advance notice
Il Messaggero reported that the meeting between Bessent and Siluanov was not announced in advance, and an Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent that Kyiv had no knowledge of the meeting. Meduza stated that U.S. officials gave no advance notice.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated digests mention that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov also discussed economic cooperation between their countries, a detail reported by Meduza and confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Finance in digests from ekonomim.com and Business Daily.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 31 Aug 2026, 19:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
US Treasury Secretary Bessent met Russian counterpart Siluanov at G20
Il Messaggero — embedded from source
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
1 rated outlet
- Meduza, the sole left-rated report, led with the meeting between U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. The report stated that sources indicated they also discussed doing business again. It detailed the objections from European governments, including threats to boycott the group photo, and noted Siluanov's absence from it. Meduza also highlighted that U.S. officials gave no advance notice of the meeting.
Centre
1 rated outlet
- Il Messaggero, the centre-rated report, focused on the meeting between Bessent and Siluanov at the G20, noting it was the first time a Russian minister had attended since the war began. The report stated the U.S. Treasury Department announced Bessent discussed Trump's peace plan. It detailed the European protest over Siluanov's presence, the threat to boycott the photo, and his subsequent absence. Il Messaggero also included information about Ukraine's lack of knowledge regarding the meeting and discussed various peace plans for Ukraine.
Right
4 rated outlets
- The two right-rated reports, Protothema and Anadolu Ajansı, led with the discussion of economic cooperation issues between the Russian and U.S. finance ministers on the sidelines of the G20. Protothema stated that Siluanov and Scott Bessett discussed cooperation between Russia and the U.S. on financial issues. Anadolu Ajansı reported that the U.S. Treasury chief met the Russian finance minister to discuss a possible settlement to the Ukraine war, noting the high-level talks occurred on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers meeting.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover US Treasury Secretary Bessent met Russian counterpart Siluanov at G20?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 17% are rated left, 16% are rated centre, 67% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 13. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is US Treasury Secretary Bessent met Russian counterpart Siluanov at G20 left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of US Treasury Secretary Bessent met Russian counterpart Siluanov at G20 biased?
- US Treasury Secretary Bessent met Russian counterpart Siluanov at G20 is one event reported by 13 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which outlets covered US Treasury Secretary Bessent met Russian counterpart Siluanov at G20?
- 13 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Who met at the G20 summit?
- U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. This was the first time Siluanov had attended a G20 meeting in person since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
- What did Bessent and Siluanov discuss?
- According to reports, the two officials discussed U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Sources also indicated that they discussed economic cooperation between their countries. The meeting was not announced in advance by U.S. officials.
- Why did European officials object to Siluanov's presence?
- European governments objected to the participation of Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov at the G20 meeting. German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil and his counterparts threatened to boycott the traditional group photo if Siluanov was included, and he ultimately did not appear in the photograph.
Read it at the source
13 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
1Centre
1Right
4- Russian and US Finance Ministers Discussed Economic Cooperation Issues on the Sidelines of the G20 (opens Protothema in a new tab)
Protothema — is Protothema biased? Our profile of this outlet
- US Treasury chief meets Russian finance minister to discuss possible settlement to Ukraine war: Reports (opens Anadolu Ajansı in a new tab)
Anadolu Ajansı — is Anadolu Ajansı biased? Our profile of this outlet
- CNBC: Siluan and Bessent Met in the U.S. (opens vz.ru in a new tab)
- Bessent and Siluanov spoke on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers' and central banks' meeting in the United States (opens news-pravda.com in a new tab)
news-pravda.com — is news-pravda.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
7- Russia and the US to Discuss Cooperation in the Financial Sector. (opens ekonomim.com in a new tab)
ekonomim.com — is ekonomim.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Siluanov Participated in the G20 Ministerial Meeting in the United States for the First Time in Four Years, and Discussed with Bessent Trump's Peace Plan for Ukraine, the New Gazette. (opens Новая газета - Novayagazeta.ru in a new tab)
- Russian and US Finance Ministers Discuss Economic Cooperation on the Sidelines of the G20 (opens ΑΘΗΝΑ 9,84 in a new tab)
ΑΘΗΝΑ 9,84 — is ΑΘΗΝΑ 9,84 biased? Our profile of this outlet
- What Siluanov Discussed with Bessent at the G20 Summit (opens tvrain.tv in a new tab)
- Russian and US Treasury Ministers Meet to Discuss Cooperation at the G20 (opens Business Daily in a new tab)
Business Daily — is Business Daily biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Siluanov and Bessent Discussed the Ukrainian Settlement (opens 1prime.ru in a new tab)
- CNBC: Bessent Discussed Trump's Peace Plan on the G20 Fields with Siluanov (opens Life.ru in a new tab)
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
