Russia sanctions, Ukraine war dominate G7 summit talks

TOP sources in the US government have said that leaders at the ongoing G7 summit in Bavaria in Germany had made progress on setting up a price cap on oil imports from Russia to reduce Moscow’s energy revenue.

News of plans on increased sanctions affecting oil and the Kremlin’s military machine came up after Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine which had been invaded by Russia a few months ago, addressed the summit via video.

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“The dual objectives of G7 leaders have been to take direct aim at [Russian president Vladimir] Putin's revenues, particularly through energy, but also to minimize the spillovers and the impact on the G7 economies and the rest of the world,” Reuters cited an official as saying on the sidelines of the summit of the world’s seven richest nations.

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As talks got underway at the summit on Monday, the US also said the sanctions would also aim at Russia’s defence industry to restrict the capacity of the country’s military.

The Ukrainian president appeared on a television screen next to the round table where the bloc’s leaders assembled on Monday at the Schloss Elmau luxury hotel. Zelensky reportedly sought the G7 for anti-aircraft defence systems, grains, more sanctions on Russia, reconstruction, etc.

The G7 leaders’ summit is likely to be dominated by the invasion of Ukraine. Besides the leaders of Germany, Britain, Canada, France, Japan, Italy and the United States, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Charles Michel were also present.

Shortly after the summit kicked off, the UK announced in a statement that along with Japan and Canada, it would put a ban on new imports of Russian gold to put more pressure on Russia.

Also, one of the first announcements of the summit was a $600 billion infrastructure initiative to support developing countries tackle climate change. The initiative is seen as the West's response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.