U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent informed Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov that sanctions relief or new agreements with Moscow are not feasible while the Ukraine war continues, based on a source aware of the discussion.

The officials met during the G20 finance leaders’ summit in Asheville, North Carolina.

Bessent’s comments followed Siluanov’s first in-person attendance at the summit since Russia’s 2022 invasion, which drew criticism from European leaders. European governments intend to escalate sanctions to pressure Russia’s economy.

The meeting highlighted Washington’s openness to diplomatic engagement with Moscow, even as European allies seek to isolate Russia amid the ongoing conflict.

Bessent explicitly stated to Siluanov that “nothing is possible until the war is over,” when the Russian minister raised topics of mutual interest, according to the source.

Reuters initially reported on this interaction.

The conversation centered on President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine and economic development, as reported by Axios, while Russia’s finance ministry described the talks as involving financial cooperation under the G20 umbrella.

Russia’s participation sparked concern among European officials, who objected to posing with Siluanov in the traditional G20 photo, which proceeded without the Russian minister.

Government bonds experienced widespread selling pressure worldwide on Wednesday, continuing a sell-off that has pushed borrowing costs to their highest levels in decades. The yield on German 10-year bunds increased significantly. Similarly, the 10-year Treasury yield climbed as yields move inversely to bond prices. Global bonds are facing mounting pressure as investors react to a renewed surge in inflationary pressures, particularly amid a fresh wave of conflict in the Middle East that is driving up oil prices. Central banks around the world are meanwhile anticipated to implement a series of interest rate increases this month, which typically poses challenges for bonds. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh adopted a hawkish stance during his extensively watched speech at Jackson Hole last week, while the Bank of Japan is seen as potentially raising rates to support a weakening yen, and markets have fully factored in a rate hike by the European Central Bank following the release of EU inflation data on Tuesday. Yields on longer-maturity debt instruments are also climbing. Equity markets have entered a risk-off phase, with major U.S. indices declining for three consecutive sessions and European and Asian markets also trading in negative territory. This follows robust gains earlier in the year, with numerous stock markets reaching record highs as enthusiasm surrounding the AI boom persists, despite the volatile geopolitical environment. “The fundamental tenets [in markets] are a little shakier than they’ve been,” George Maris, chief investment officer and global head of equities at Principal Asset Management, told Verum’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday. “And if the cost of money, the cost of risk rises, that’s what you’re seeing with the global rise in yields everywhere.” “You look at debt levels around the world that are at stratospheric levels and increasing. The solutions for curing that do not seem readily apparent … I don’t see the political willingness to tackle this anywhere. I think that’s a problem,” Maris added. “I think the fact that this is all happening in a period of healthy global economic growth, that you’re seeing the debt levels pick up, means that we’re in a more precarious place for if there’s disturbance.”

Two oil tankers collided with naval mines while attempting to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced on Wednesday, following the Iranian military’s retaliatory strikes on U.S. bases across the Middle East. In a statement disseminated by state media, the influential hard-line military group stated that the vessels were disabled and their crews evacuated after disregarding warnings about using an ‘illegal route’ through the strait. President Donald Trump said he was ‘not trying to force Iran to the bargaining table,’ as U.S. forces concluded a fresh wave of attacks against the Middle Eastern nation on Tuesday stateside. U.S. Central Command disputed Iran’s claim of the tanker incidents, asserting in a social media post on Wednesday that ‘No ships have hit mines in the Strait of Hormuz. This is yet another IRGC attempt to intimidate regional commercial shipping through disinformation.’ The latest round of military exchanges occurred as the Financial Times published an investigative report alleging that Russia was covertly assisting Iran in developing advanced supersonic cruise missiles capable of endangering U.S. aircraft carriers and other warships in the region. In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed the U.S. has ‘almost total control’ over the Strait of Hormuz, while asserting that Tehran’s economy is collapsing. He stated Iran was simply ‘playing out the inevitable’ and questioned, ‘When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?’ In an earlier post on X, U.S. Central Command said it targeted air defense and communications facilities, and radar systems in Iran, in retaliation against the ‘recent attempted attacks’ by the country against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members. Tehran responded to American strikes by targeting U.S. ally Jordan. The country’s armed forces said it was struck by a missile attack launched from Iranian territory. A spokesperson for Jordan’s armed forces said on X that 10 of 13 missiles were intercepted by the nation’s air defense systems, with the remaining three landing in remote areas. No injuries or fatalities were reported. Bahrain’s armed forces announced on Instagram on Wednesday that they had intercepted and destroyed ‘treacherous Iranian air strikes today,’ following an earlier alert from Bahrain’s Interior Ministry regarding a ‘potential threat.’ U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz will become a ‘worthless piece of water’ in two years, contending that oil will instead flow through land pipelines and bypass the strait. The strikes on Sunday marked the first instance of U.S. and Iranian attacks being exchanged in approximately a month, coming after the Trump administration declared it was launching an ‘economic D-Day’ on Tehran’s backers.