Leaders explore Russian oil price cap at G7 summit

Elmau, Germany: Senior US government sources on Monday said leaders at the G7 summit had made progress on setting a price cap on Russian oil imports to curb Moscow’s energy revenue.

News of plans for ramped-up sanctions affecting oil and Russia’s military machine emerged as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the summit by videolink.

“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 minimise the spillovers and the impact on the G7 economies and the rest of the world,” the Reuters news agency reported an official as saying on the sidelines of the summit.

As Monday’s summit talks got underway, the United States also said sanctions would target Russia’s defense industry in a bid to hamper the effectiveness of the Russian military.

Zelenskyy appeared on a television screen next to the round table where the leaders sat on Monday at the secluded Schloss Elmau luxury hotel.

He was reported to have asked the group for anti-aircraft defense systems, security guarantees, help on grain exports, further sanctions on Russia, and reconstruction aid.

Zelenskyy was also reported as saying that he wanted a push to ensure Russia’s war in Ukraine ends before the winter sets in.

Summit host Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the G7 would keep turning up the heat on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

“As G7 we stand united on Ukraine’s side and will continue our support. For this, we all have to take tough but necessary decisions,” Scholz tweeted, thanking Zelensky for addressing the leaders.

G7 issues statement on Ukraine
A G7 statement was issued on Monday morning, shortly after Zelensky’s appearance. It said the group was committed to “sustaining and intensifying international economic and political pressure on President Putin’s regime and its enablers in Belarus.”

“We will continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military, and diplomatic support and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” the G7 said.

The statement also demanded the return of Ukrainian citizens taken to Russia against their will and said there could be no impunity for war crimes and other atrocities.

It added that some sanctions could target individuals responsible for war crimes or exercising illegal authority in Ukraine.

The G7 said leading economies would seek to provide safe passage for refugees from the country, including by streamlining immigration procedures and visa requirements.

It said the nations would explore ways to meet Ukraine’s humanitarian needs, including recovery and reconstruction, and that this might include the use of Russian assets frozen as consistent with national laws.

What else is left on the G7 summit agenda?
Leaders of the Group of Seven advanced economies began three days of talks in Germany’s Bavarian Alps on Sunday with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine likely to continue dominating the agenda throughout.

The leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States are present, along with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel.

Shortly before the summit began, London also announced in a statement that the UK, along with the US, Japan, and Canada, would ban new imports of Russian gold to tighten the economic effect of sanctions on Russia.

Meanwhile, one of the first announcements of the summit was a $600 billion (€568 billion) infrastructure initiative to help developing countries tackle climate change. The initiative is seen as the West’s response to China’s massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).