The IMF delegation was due to visit Russia at the beginning of October to attend its first face-to-face meetings with Russian officials since the Kremlin launched its full-scale war on Ukraine in February 2022.

News of the planned visit sparked sufficient anger for nine European finance ministers to write a letter to Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF managing director. The letter, written last week, warned her that the Kremlin would use the visit for propaganda purposes.

“We believe that it would be a sign for the international community that the IMF is ready to go back to business as usual, taking a step towards normalizing relations with the aggressor,” said the letter, signed by the finance ministers of Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Poland.

“We urge all international financial institutions, including the IMF and its management, to continue refraining from... activities involving the aggressor state and not to resume dialogue as long as Russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine,” they added.

The IMF had defended the planned visit, saying it was a treaty obligation given that Russia was one of its members.

Aleksei Mozhin, Russia’s representative at the IMF, told the state-run TASS news agency that the IMF had informed Russia on Monday—the day virtual talks were scheduled to start ahead of the visit—that the mission had been postponed indefinitely.

Mozhin cited the “technical unreadiness of the mission to hold consultations” as the reason for the delay, Politico reported.

Earlier this month, two officials told Politico that the IMF had proposed holding the meeting in a neutral location but eventually agreed to the Kremlin’s insistence that the delegation travel to Russia.