ELMAU, Germany (AP) — Leaders of the world’s biggest developed economies said Tuesday they would explore far-reaching steps to cap Russia’s income from oil sales that are 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.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to our unprecedented coordination on sanctions for as long as necessary, acting in unison at every stage,” the leaders said.
The G-7 leaders — representing the U.S., Germany, France, Italy, the U.K., Canada and Japan — on Monday pledged to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” after conferring by video link with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy has openly worried that the West has become fatigued by the cost of a war that is contributing to soaring energy costs and price hikes on essential goods around the globe. The G-7 has sought to assuage those concerns.
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.
“We agree that (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin must not win this war, and we will continue to keep up and drive higher the economic and political costs for President Putin and his regime,” said the summit host, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “For that, it is important to stand together — including in the long haul that we certainly still face.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said Russia “cannot and should not win” the war in Ukraine — as its terrible toll was on full view the day after a Russian missile strike hit a shopping mall in the town of Kremenchuk, killing 18 people.
The price cap — pushed by U.S. 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. To be effective, however, it would have to involve as many consuming countries as possible, in particular India, where refiners have been snapping up cheap Russian oil shunned by Western traders.
