Zelensky delivered the message during a video link during a morning session at Schloss Elmau Castle in the Bavarian Alps. He called for a major push to end the war before winter arrives in several months, the source said. The message was as clear a signal as Zelensky has given on how he sees the trajectory of the war.
President Joe Biden and his world-leading colleagues, crammed into the Bavarian Alps, are reflecting on the next phase of the country’s heinous war with Ukraine. The conflict has been at the center of the Group of 7 summit held inside a century-old mountain castle in the Bavarian region of Germany. Leaders have decided on new steps to isolate the Russian economy, including a ban on new Russian gold imports, and are discussing ways to further limit Moscow’s energy benefits by applying a cap on the price of Russian oil.
The United States is expected to announce as soon as this week that it has acquired a new advanced medium- and long-range missile defense system that Ukraine has been requesting, along with new shipments of ammunition and radar systems, as it works to reverse the momentum in the war away from Russia, which has been making small gains in the East.
Ukraine had called for the system to help maintain its fight against Russia. In a brief preview of the leaders ’meeting with Zelensky, the President of Ukraine could be seen on a screen set up in the conference room as the leaders took their seats.
G7 leaders also plan to announce a lengthy set of new sanctions, including Russian defense supply chains, Russians responsible for human rights violations and war crimes, private military companies and new visa restrictions on 500 officials. The United States will also announce $ 7.5 billion in new funding for Ukraine, part of a broader commitment by G7 countries to help the country offset its budget deficits.
“Here at this G7 meeting, as well as at NATO, we will continue to do everything we can collectively to make sure that the Ukrainians have in their hands what they need to repel Russian aggression.” said the US Secretary of State. Antony Blinken said Sunday in an exclusive interview with CNN’s “State of the Union.”
There are other important issues on the agenda, such as a new effort to offset China’s infrastructure investments in the developing world that have extended Beijing’s influence around the world.
But the longer the Western Front can remain united against Russia is the issue it plans on these talks. Rising energy costs, fears of global food shortages and the inevitable inevitability of war fatigue have given urgency to discussions about where the conflict is heading.
Meeting with his host, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on Sunday, Biden tried to stress the importance of staying together.
“Putin has counted, from the beginning, that somehow NATO and the G7 would split,” he said. “But we haven’t and we won’t.”
Zelensky, who also plans to address this week’s NATO summit in Madrid, has pressured the West to step up sanctions on Moscow and heavy artillery to defeat Russian invaders.
His pleas will become more urgent after Sunday’s missile impacts against two residential buildings in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine that had enjoyed relative calm in recent weeks as fighting moved east. Biden condemned the attack as “barbaric.”
However, it remains to be seen to what extent leaders will be willing to impose new sanctions on Russia. High oil prices mean Russia is earning more revenue from its energy exports, despite bans in Europe and the United States.
Western leaders meeting at the G7 have decided to try to limit the price of Russian oil, officials say, the latest step in punishing Moscow as it tries to mitigate the economic effects of the war in Ukraine. It remains to be seen how, when and how much the price of Russian oil will be limited. Officials said the precise mechanism for reaching the limit was still being worked out.
It remains to be seen how, when and how much the price of Russian oil will be limited. Officials said the precise mechanism for reaching the limit was still being worked out.
But leaders will tell their teams to work urgently to find a way to limit the price at which Russia can sell its oil, depriving Moscow of a key source of revenue.
“The goal here is to starve Russia, to starve Putin from its main source of cash, and to force him to lower the price of Russian oil to help reduce the impact of Putin’s war on the bomb.” , said a senior US administration official.
As oil prices have skyrocketed, Russia’s oil revenues have risen, despite global import bans. Leaders want to use their collective leverage to reduce the revenue Russia receives from countries that still buy its oil.
It remains to be seen exactly how it is done, although the official suggested that the G7 nations have an influence through oil transportation networks that could help enforce the limit.
High gas prices for American and European consumers are pushing leaders to find ways to alleviate the pain.
Speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper about the “state of the Union” hours after Russian missiles hit Kyiv, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Americans, British and others in the West to remain determined to punish Moscow , despite the effect the war has had on the world. oil prices.
“I would just tell the people of the United States that this is something that the United States has historically done and must do, and that is to promote peace, freedom, and democracy,” Johnson said. “And if we let Putin get away with it, and only annex it, he will conquer large parts of a free, independent and sovereign country, which is what he is willing to do … then the consequences for the world they are absolutely catastrophic. “
Putin, whose country was expelled from the then G8 in 2014 after Russia’s annexation of Crimea’s Ukrainian territory, was the subject of a slight mockery as leaders sat down for a working lunch on Sunday.
Johnson, the last leader to reach the roundtable, asked if the jacket should be put on.
“Jackets put on?” he asked, before joking about how leaders should look tough during their conversations.
“We have to prove that we are tougher than Putin,” he said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a suggestion: “Ride with your torso bare,” he said, as the leaders laughed.