From the United States they insist that “we must ensure that Russia pays the costs of its war”
The G7 countries have announced new sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine. These will fundamentally affect its arms industry and supply chains, said a spokesman for the US delegation, who stressed that the leaders participating in the Elmau summit, in the Bavarian Alps, want to “make sure that Russia pays the costs of its war”. The White House also announced that the US, in coordination with the G7 countries, will impose sanctions against several hundred Russian people and institutions, as well as punishing tariffs against numerous Russian products. The announcement came hours before Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was scheduled to meet by videoconference with the G7 heads of state and government. A senior member of the US delegation acknowledged, however, that there is still no agreement on Washington’s proposal to set maximum prices for Russian oil and thus reduce Moscow’s income.
The White House also reported in Elmau that the G7 leaders are coordinating and expanding sanctions against Russia in order to hinder that country’s access to important raw materials, materials, services and technologies from their own economies. The United States will also expand its sanctions against the Russian arms sector to limit its ability to “replenish the war material it has lost so far in its brutal war against Ukraine.” They will also apply punishing tariffs of some 2.3 billion dollars to some 570 groups of Russian products. US President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders want the revenue from those punitive tariffs to be used to directly support Ukraine in its war against the Russian invader.
The statement from Biden’s office issued in Elmau underlines that the G7 leaders agree to punish all those responsible for war crimes and human rights violations in Ukraine. The US Foreign Ministry will prohibit some 500 Kremlin representatives from entering the national territory “for threatening or violating the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine, as well as for repressing dissenting opinions in Russia.” The note highlights that the G7 is committed to helping cover short-term trade deficits suffered by Ukraine. Also to support Ukraine financially, humanitarianally, militarily and diplomatically “as long as it takes”, also with the supply of modern weapons systems.
