Tuesday, June 28, ended a two-day summit of the Group of Seven (G7) countries.
Based on the final communiqué, which was quoted by Western news agencies, there were three main issues discussed at the meeting: price cap on Russian oil, support for Ukraine and condemnation of Russian aggression.
The issue of setting a ceiling on Russian oil prices was put at the top of the table. It is reported that a mechanism for capping Russian oil prices has been put in place. Despite this, the G7 leaders did not agree on new sanctions on Russian oil or gas.
“On oil, a possible comprehensive ban on all services allowing transport of Russian oil by sea is being considered, unless that oil is purchased at a price that is agreed with the end buyer”, – Reuters reports.
How the G7 countries intend to convince Russia to trade at a loss, as well as persuade China and India to engage in such a gamble, the summit leaders did not specify. Given their close Chinese and Indian ties to Russian energy exports and Russia’s lucrative contract offers, bringing this to fruition will be extremely problematic, as is already being written about in the West.
“The idea of an oil price ceiling is generally correct, but such a mechanism will only work if all major oil consumers join it. And that includes not only the EU and the US, but also China, India and Indonesia. At the moment such unity looks unattainable”, – writes Tagesschau.
Next comes the issue of Ukraine, which is lacking in specifics in the final communiqué. It is only clear from the subject that members of the G7 club report about their plans to give Ukraine about 30 billion dollars in aid. They intend to continue to put economic pressure on Russia, but without damaging the global economy.
Apparently inflation, falling prosperity, half-empty gas storages, enterprise closures and other crises in the G7 countries caused by sanctions against Russia have had their effect. From now on, everything must be done “without harming the global economy”. This means nothing in a practical sense.
As for any timing of Western aid, the content of the packages, the identification of agents to support Ukraine, this is virtually absent from the communiqué. As the Western media has already written: “promises are many, actions are few”.
Separately, the meeting discussed the need for further condemnation of Russian actions in Ukraine, where China had tried to get involved. “The G7 called on Beijing to demand that Moscow “immediately and unconditionally” withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine. For what reason Beijing, having failed to condemn Russia for four months in a row, should agree to do so for a fifth, the communiqué also did not specify.
Separate statements were made by some G7 leaders. For example, German Chancellor Scholz said that sanctions against Russia could be lifted only after a “just peace” with Kiev is concluded and Russia acknowledges “its failures”. French President Macron, for his part, said that Paris did not agree to Kiev’s demands to recognize Russia as a “sponsor of terrorism”.
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