Russia should not be the winner of the Iran war, German finmin says

WASHINGTON — It is not in the interest of the United States that Russia is the winner of the Iran war, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said on Thursday in Washington.

"It's not in our interest and it cannot be in the interest of the United States," he said in a joint statement with the finance ministers of Ukraine and Norway on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund spring meetings.

Klingbeil said the Russian economy is growing thanks to the Middle East conflict and is making a profit from the energy situation.

As the conflict in the Middle East dominates this week's gathering of finance officials at the IMF in Washington, the ministers of Norway, Germany and Ukraine spoke about not forgetting to support Ukraine in its defense against Russia.

"All the meetings here are about the question of what's happening with the war in Iran, and I think it's really important that we show solidarity with our friends in Ukraine," Klingbeil said.

There was a meeting in support of Ukraine on Thursday on the sidelines of the IMF meetings in which 15 donor countries participated, including the US.

On Wednesday at a G7 meeting, the US participated, but without US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Asked about Bessent's absence, Klingbeil said the important thing was that the U.S. was at the table.

"When [Ukrainian Finance Minister] Serhiy Marchenko was describing the situation in Ukraine, I felt there was huge solidarity in the G7."

Klingbeil also welcomed the election results in Hungary, as the country had been blocking the €90-billion ($106-billion) EU loan package for Ukraine.

"I'm also happy because I see now there's a way," he said in reference to the long-awaited loan. — Reuters