Ukraine atop summit agendas
Other G-7, NATO themes include energy, climate
WASHINGTON – Back-to-back world leader summits in Europe opening this weekend will focus on uniting Western nations behind Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion and overcoming Turkey’s opposition to NATO membership for Finland and Sweden.
The Group of Seven leading economic powers – the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan – are set to hold their annual gathering Sunday through Tuesday in the Bavarian Alps in Germany, which holds the G-7’s rotating presidency this year.
After the G-7 concludes, leaders of the 30 countries in the NATO alliance will then gather for their annual summit, which is being held Wednesday through Thursday in Madrid.
A look at some of the key issues and themes on the table as President Joe Biden prepares to join both summits:
Ukraine unity
Russia’s war in Ukraine will loom large over both summits as leaders seek to project a united front against Kremlin aggression that has devastated Ukraine and plunged Europe and much of the world into economic and other crises.
Nations represented at the back-toback gatherings have sent billions of dollars in aid and arms to Ukraine and closed ranks in their strident condemnation of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
Ukraine got another boost Thursday when European Union leaders swiftly and unanimously approved its application to become a candidate to join the 27-nation bloc, though the process of joining will likely take years.
The United States and European Union have imposed damaging economic sanctions on Moscow and Putin’s oligarchs, but major markets including China and India continue to buy Russian oil, watering down the effects of Western sanctions.
NATO for Finland and Sweden
A major unresolved issue for the NATO summit is membership for Finland and Sweden.
Russia’s war in Ukraine spooked both Nordic countries enough that they abandoned long-held neutrality policies and applied to join the military alliance. All 30 member nations must sign off on the applications. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg supports the bid, and Biden demonstrated his strong backing by hosting both countries’ leaders in the Oval Office.
But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan so far has stalled their quick admission, objecting to membership and pressing both countries to alter their stance on Kurdish rebels that Turkey considers terrorists.
All sides have been trying to find a way through the impasse, but whether Erdogan’s concerns can be addressed to his satisfaction in Madrid remained an open question. Sweden and Finland were invited and are expected to attend.
Countering China
Founded to contain the Soviet Union, NATO is set to declare for the first time that confronting China’s rise is also part of its mission.
In Madrid, the alliance will unveil a new “Strategic Concept,” the first update to its guiding principles since 2010, that explicitly references addressing challenges from China. The alliance also has invited Pacific leaders from Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia to the summit.
The document marks a significant milestone in efforts by the U.S., under multiple presidents, to expand the alliance’s focus to China, even in the face an increasingly bellicose Russia.
The Biden administration maintains that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has “firmed up” democracies on the threats from autocracies in both Moscow and Beijing.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin accuses NATO of trying to “start a new Cold War” and warned against the alliance “drawing ideological lines which may induce confrontation.”
Climate
Leaders of the G-7 economies will consider backing a package of new climate change measures that senior officials agreed to last month. These effectively require countries to quit burning coal for electricity by 2035, transparently report on their fossil fuel subsidies and ensure electric cars dominate new auto sales by the end of the decade.
Senior G-7 officials also acknowledged for the first time the need to provide developing countries with additional financial aid to cope with the loss and damage already happening because of global warming. Wealthy nations have long resisted such a move, fearing they could be on the hook for costly compensation payments for decades of greenhouse gas emissions.
Poor countries want the G-7 to commit actual money, having seen past pledges for $100 billion in climate aid by 2020 go unfulfilled.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes they will also back his idea for an international “climate club” whose members would agree on minimum standards to avoid a patchwork of rules and emissions-related tariffs.
Energy
Russia sees Europe’s need for natural gas as a wedge issue that could weaken the alliance backing Ukraine. That means Biden must bring as much liquefied natural gas from the U.S. to Europe as possible, which requires new terminals for shipping. Natural gas prices in the U.S. futures markets are up roughly 70% so far this year.
Russia is also a major oil producer, and the war has sent global benchmark prices up about 40% so far this year, causing higher gasoline prices in the U.S. and around the world.
Biden views near $5-a-gallon gas in the U.S. as a risk for fellow Democrats heading into the midterm elections, a preview of the risks European leaders could face this winter due to natural gas costs.
Shortages of natural gas and higher prices are putting tremendous financial pressure on Germany, Italy, Austria, Netherlands, Poland, Bulgaria, Finland, the Czech Republic and Denmark, among others.
Russia has cut exports of natural gas needed to generate electricity and provide heating, causing Germany, which has relied on Russia for 35% of its gas imports, to call on factories to cut power usage and shift toward coal.