Finance
The Group of Seven (G7) leaders began their three-day annual summit in Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps of southern Germany.
The summit will address issues such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, climate change, and others.
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, particularly further sanctions against Russia, will dominate discussions at the G7 summit, as US President Joe Biden said on Sunday morning that the G7 would impose a ban on Russian gold imports, according to Xinhua news agency.
The leaders discussed global economic issues in their first working session on Sunday. According to the G7, all countries are concerned about the current crises, which include falling growth rates in some countries, rising inflation, raw material shortages, and supply chain disruption according to the host German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
After the following working session in the afternoon, the G7 leaders launched a billion-dollar global infrastructure and investment initiative, dubbed the “Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment.”
A German federal government source said on Saturday night that price caps of Russian oil will be discussed, a measure that envisages forcing Russia to sell oil to large buyers such as India at a significantly lower price in the future. The G7 countries are intensively discussing the issue and are “on the way to finding an agreement.”
According to the source, the G7 leaders will issue a statement on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. During the summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will deliver a speech via video.
Leaders will also address the food crisis caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. They will try to find ways to unblock Ukraine’s grain exports across the Black Sea, as well as make financial commitments to assist the countries most affected by the crisis.
According to the host country’s policy priorities, G7 leaders will address issues such as climate change by establishing a “climate club” proposed by Scholz.
Along with leaders from Germany, the United States, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, and the European Union, leaders from India, Indonesia, South Africa, Senegal, and Argentina have been invited to attend the summit.
According to experts, the West bloc will use the G7 summit to try to persuade major developing countries to join its sanctions against Russia.
Source:OCN
