ELMAU, Germany –
Leaders of the world’s richest democracies have taken a united stance to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes” as Russia’s invasion progresses, saying they would explore far-reaching measures to limit the Kremlin’s revenue from drug sales. oil that finance the war.
Tuesday’s final statement from the Group of Seven summit in Germany underlined its intention to impose “severe and immediate economic costs” on Russia. He left out key details about how fossil fuel price caps would work in practice, prompting more discussions in coming weeks to “explore” measures to ban Russian oil imports above a certain level.
That would hit a key source of Russia’s revenue and, in theory, help ease spikes in energy prices and inflation hitting the world economy as a result of the war.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to our unprecedented coordination on sanctions for as long as necessary, acting in unison at every stage,” the leaders said.
The leaders also agreed to ban imports of Russian gold and increase aid to countries affected by food shortages due to the blockade of grain shipments from Ukraine through the Black Sea.
In theory, the price cap would work by prohibiting service providers, such as shippers or insurers, from driving the price of oil above a fixed level. That could work because the service providers are mostly located in the European Union or the United Kingdom and therefore subject to sanctions. To be effective, however, it would have to involve as many consuming countries as possible, particularly India, where refiners have been buying cheap Russian oil that Western traders shun. Details of how the proposal would be implemented were left for further talks in the coming weeks.
The United States has already blocked imports of Russian oil, which were small in any case. The European Union has decided to impose a ban on 90% of Russian oil arriving by sea, but that doesn’t take effect until the end of the year, so Europe continues to send money to Russia for energy even as it condemns the war. Meanwhile, higher world oil prices have softened the blow to Russia’s earnings, even as Western traders shun Russian oil.
Energy issues were front and center at the summit throughout. Europe is scrambling to find new sources of oil and new gas supplies as Russia cuts gas supplies in what leaders say is a political move. Meanwhile, high energy prices are a headache for consumers in the G7 countries.
Summit host German Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended the G7’s decision to soften commitments to end public support for fossil fuel investments, saying the war in Ukraine means time-limited support may be needed. for new natural gas extraction projects.
The G7 nations said in a statement Tuesday at the end of their three-day summit that “in these exceptional circumstances, publicly supported investment in the gas sector may be appropriate as a temporary response.”
Before the summit closed, the leaders came together to condemn what they called the “abhorrent” Russian attack on a shopping mall in the city of Kremechuk, calling it a war crime and vowing that President Vladimir Putin and others involved “will have to To be accountable”.
The leaders of the United States, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan pledged on Monday to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” after consulting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by video conference.
The host of the summit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said he “once again very emphatically outlined the situation as Ukraine currently sees it.” Zelenskyy’s speech came hours before Ukrainian officials reported a deadly Russian missile attack on a busy shopping mall in the central city of Kremenchuk.
From the isolated Schloss Elmau hotel in the Bavarian Alps, the G7 leaders will travel to Madrid for a summit of NATO leaders, where the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will once again dominate the agenda. All members of the G7 except Japan are members of NATO, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been invited to Madrid.
Zelenskyy has openly worried that the West has become cost-weary in a war that is contributing to rising energy costs and the prices of essential goods around the world. The G7 has tried to allay those concerns.
While the group’s annual meeting has been dominated by Ukraine and the fallout from the war, such as the challenge to food supplies in parts of the world caused by the disruption of Ukraine’s grain exports, Scholz wanted to show that the G7 can also advance pre-war priorities.
Members of the Group of Seven major economies pledged Tuesday to create a new “climate club” for nations that want to take more ambitious action to tackle global warming.
The move, championed by Scholz, will see countries joining the club agree to tougher measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions with the aim of preventing global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) this century compared to pre-industrial times.
The countries that are part of the club will try to harmonize their measures in such a way that they are comparable and prevent members from imposing climate-related tariffs on each other’s imports.
Speaking at the end of the three-day summit in Elmau, Germany, Scholz said the goal was “to ensure that protecting the climate is a competitive advantage, not a disadvantage.”
He said details of the planned climate club would be finalized this year.
Reference-www.ctvnews.ca