Russia-Ukraine crisis dominates G7 summit
Kremlin says ‘no grounds’ for claims of debt default, as West eyes more clamps
G7 leaders were addressing the global economic consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Bavarian Alps of Germany as they discussed strategies on how to secure energy supplies and tackle inflation.
The wealthy Western nations were set to finalize plans on Tuesday for a price cap on Russian oil, reported Reuters, quoting a senior United States official on the sidelines of the three-day summit, which opened on Sunday.
“The dual objectives of G7 leaders have been to take direct aim at (Russia’s) revenues, particularly through energy, but also to minimize the spillovers and the impact on the G7 economies and the rest of the world,” the official said.
The United Kingdom, the US, Canada and Japan on Sunday announced moves to ban imports of Russian gold, which, the BBC reported, is aimed at wealthy Russians who have been buying bullion to reduce the financial impact of Western sanctions.
Western countries have introduced a slew of sanctions aimed at some Russian individuals, banks, businesses and state-owned enterprises, since the start of the conflict in February. More than 1,000 Russian individuals and businesses have been sanctioned so far.
The Kremlin insisted on Monday there were “no grounds” to say that Russia had defaulted on its foreigncurrency sovereign debt as the West pummels Russia with sanctions.
“These claims about default, they are absolutely wrong,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters after a key payment deadline expired on Sunday, adding that Russia had settled the debt in May.
Bloomberg News reported earlier on Monday that Russia defaulted on its foreign-currency sovereign debt for the first time in more than a century, after the grace period on some $100 million of interest payments due Sunday had expired.
A ‘farce’
The Russian authorities have accused the West of seeking to drive Moscow into an artificial default, and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has dismissed the situation as a “farce”.
A formal default would be largely symbolic given Russia cannot borrow internationally at the moment and doesn’t need to thanks to plentiful oil and gas export revenues, Reuters commented.
According to a fact sheet released by the US and noted by Reuters, G7 leaders will make an “unprecedented, long-term security commitment to providing Ukraine with financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support as long as it takes”.
The US is planning to send Ukraine sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles, a source familiar with the process told Agence France-Presse on Monday.
US President Joe Biden, who is attending the G7 summit in Germany, “has made the procurement of advanced air defense systems for
Ukraine a priority”, the source said, asking not to be identified.
An announcement is “likely this week” on the purchase of NASAMS, an “advanced mediumto long-range surface-to-air missile defense system”, as well as other weaponry to help Ukraine fight Russia’s forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who addressed G7 leaders by video link on Monday, has pleaded for more powerful weapons.
G7 leaders on Monday also expressed “serious concern” over alleged Russian plans to deliver missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads to Belarus in the coming months.
“We urge Russia to behave responsibly and exercise restraint,” they said in a statement. “In this regard we express serious concern after the announcement by Russia that it could transfer missiles with nuclear capabilities to Belarus.”
The Ukraine crisis has diverted attention from another crisis — that of climate change — originally set to dominate the summit. Activists fear Western nations are watering down their climate ambitions as they scramble to find alternatives to Russian gas imports and rely more heavily on coal, a dirtier fossil fuel, instead.
Japan is also pushing to remove a target for zero-emission vehicles from a G7 communique expected this week, according to a proposed draft seen by Reuters.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of the five leaders of guest nations joining the G7 for talks on climate change, energy, health, food security and gender equality on the second day of the summit.