G-7 pledges further hits on Kremlin oil income

ELMAU, Germany — Leaders of the world’s biggest developed economies said Tuesday that they would explore far-reaching steps to cap Russia’s income from oil sales that is financing its invasion of Ukraine and struck a united stance to support Kyiv for “as long as it takes” as the war grinds on.

The final statement from the Group of Seven summit in Germany underlined their intent to impose “severe and immediate economic costs” on Russia.

It left out key details on how fossil fuel price caps would work in practice, setting up more discussion in the weeks ahead to “explore ... the feasibility” of measures to bar imports of Russian oil above a certain level.

That would hit a key Russian source of income and, in theory, help relieve the energy price spikes and inflation afflicting the global economy as a result of the war.

The G-7 leaders — representing the Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S. — on Monday pledged their continued support for Ukraine after conferring by video with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Leaders also agreed on a ban on imports of Russian gold and to step up aid to countries hit with food shortages by the blockade on Ukraine grain shipments through the Black Sea.

The price cap — pushed by President Joe Biden — would in theory work by barring service provides such as shippers or insurers from dealing with oil priced above a fixed level.

That could work because the service providers are mostly located in the European Union or the U.K. and thus within reach of sanctions.

The U.S. has already blocked Russian oil imports, which were small in any case.