Friday's meeting of the finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 bloc of major economies in Bali, Indonesia, descended into acrimony as Western officials accused their Russian counterparts of causing an economic disaster by invading Ukraine in February, leading to fears that one side would walk out of the summit entirely.

U.S. treasury secretary and former Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen, the United States' highest-ranking representative at the meeting, told a news conference on the sidelines that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had harmed the global economy by invading Ukraine. She also suggested that Russian officials should not participate, although she did not indicate whether she would leave the meeting while Russian officials spoke.

"I believe I've made it clear that it cannot be "business as usual" with regard to Russia's participation in these meetings," Yellen said, adding that she anticipated the attendance of Ukraine's finance minister. Even though Ukraine is not a member of the G20, it was asked to attend the summit by Indonesian president Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, following his "peace mission" to Moscow and Kyiv last month.

Yellen also stated that she supported hard price caps on Russian oil, which she believed would reduce global oil prices and stabilize international markets. "It will allow Russia to continue exporting oil... and it will help consumers worldwide, including China and India, avoid a spike in global oil prices," she explained.

China, the world's largest lender to developing countries, was criticized by the secretary of the treasury for failing to engage in debt restructuring efforts. During the meeting, she stated that she hoped to monitor debt relief promises from the G20.

When asked about domestic inflation, which the White House recently estimated to be 9.1 percent annually, Yellen acknowledged that the rate was "unacceptably high" and voiced support for the Federal Reserve's recent increase in interest rates, which has made loans more expensive and slowed the velocity of money. She also acknowledged that attempts to curb inflation would cause the dollar to appreciate relative to other currencies, most notably the euro, which is now worth less than the dollar for the first time since 2002, and make it more difficult for developing nations to pay off dollar-denominated debts, but countered that developing countries with dollar-denominated exports, such as oil and other hydrocarbons, would also benefit.

The previous G20 conference, held in April in Washington, D.C., was marked by open antagonism between Western and Russian officials and did not result in the issuing of a unified communique.