G-7 pledges new sanctions, will stand with Ukraine 'for as long as it takes'

SCHLOSS ELMAU (Germany) • The Group of 7 (G-7) club of wealthy nations has vowed to stand with Ukraine "for as long as it takes", promising to tighten the squeeze on Russia's finances with new sanctions that include a proposal to cap the price of Russian oil.

The announcement yesterday came after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, addressing G-7 leaders at their summit in the Bavarian Alps via a video link, asked for weapons and air defences to gain the upper hand in the war against Russia within months.

The G-7 statement aimed to signal that its members were ready to back Ukraine for the long haul, at a time when soaring inflation and energy shortages - fuelled by Russia's invasion - have tested the West's sanctions resolve.

"We will continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes," the statement said.

After missiles rained down on Kyiv on Sunday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the US was preparing a new weapons package for Ukraine that included long-range air defences and ammunition.

The G-7 countries said they were ready to provide security commitments in a post-war settlement while stressing, after Ukraine had earlier voiced misgivings, that it was up to Kyiv to decide a future peace deal with Russia.

A French official said Mr Zelensky told G-7 leaders the time has not yet come to open talks with Russia, until Ukraine has "re-established a position of strength".

"In the meantime, he needs to end the war as quickly as possible," the official said after Mr Zelensky's virtual appearance at the summit, adding that the Ukrainian leader had set the beginning of winter as the deadline.

The G-7 countries said they had pledged or were ready to grant up to US$29.5 billion (S$40.9 billion) for Ukraine.

The announcements came as the White House said Russia had defaulted on its foreign sovereign bonds for the first time in a century - an assertion Moscow rejected.

G-7 nations, which generate nearly half the world's economic output, want to crank up pressure on Russia without stoking already soaring inflation that is causing strains at home and savaging the global south.

The expanded sanctions would also target Russia's revenue stream from gold exports, Moscow's military production and officials installed by Moscow in areas of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces.

Imposing the oil price cap aims to hit Russian President Vladimir Putin's war chest while actually lowering energy prices.

G-7 countries would work with others, including India, to limit the revenues that Mr Putin can continue to generate, a US official said on the sidelines of the G-7 summit.

India has refrained from criticising Russia and provided a market for Russian oil, gas and coal as it sought to balance longstanding ties with Moscow and relations with the West.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of the five leaders of guest nations joining the G-7 for talks on climate change, energy, health, food security and gender equality on the second day of the summit.

The Ukraine crisis has detracted attention from another crisis - that of climate change - originally set to dominate the summit.

Activists fear Western nations are watering down their climate ambitions as they scramble to find alternatives to Russian gas imports and rely more heavily on coal, a dirtier fossil fuel, instead.

Japan is also pushing to remove a target for zero-emission vehicles from a G-7 communique expected this week, according to a proposed draft seen by Reuters.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE