G7 leaders pledged on Monday to support Ukraine “as long as necessary” and promised more sanctions against Russia, during a summit in Germany in which Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky called for more pressure against Vladimir Putin’s government. .
The G7 will continue “providing financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support” to Ukraine “for as long as necessary”, released a joint statement published at the group’s summit, held at the Elmau castle in Bavaria, southern Germany.
Speaking by videoconference at the meeting, Zelensky urged “doing as much” as possible to end the war before the end of the year and avoid “the harshness of the Ukrainian winter,” which makes fighting more difficult.
Zelensky called on the leaders of the world’s seven richest powers — the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Canada — to “intensify sanctions” against Russia.
“Now is not the time to negotiate with Moscow,” the Ukrainian president also said.
White House sources specified that the G7 will commit to further tighten sanctions against the Russian economy and develop a mechanism to “put a cap on Russian oil prices,” a request made by Zelensky on Monday.
The industrialized powers are going to “continue to restrict Russia’s access to crucial industrial resources”, in particular in the defense sector, according to those sources. The strategy, they said, also seeks to “aggressively” hit large Russian public companies.
The G7 also wants to “coordinate to use customs tariffs on Russian products to help Ukraine” from higher tariffs, they added.
