Group of Seven (G7) leaders during their two-day meeting in Munich of Germany, have pledged to increase import duties on Russian goods coming into their nations, besides assuring Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy all support from their.
Zelenskyy interacted with them via video link and outlined their intentions to raise tariffs on Russian goods and impose other new sanctions including putting a price ceiling on Russian oil.
The G-7 leaders also discussed finalising an agreement to pursue a price cap on Russian oil. A senior administration official stated that the G-7 finance ministers would be responsible for deciding the specifics of how a price cap would operate as well as how it would affect the Russian economy in the upcoming weeks and months.
Meanwhile, the United States is also planning to announce the purchase of an upgraded surface-to-air missile system for Ukraine to resist Russian aggression. In addition to using sanctions to target Russia’s supply lines for defence equipment, the United States also announced new tariffs on as many as 570 different categories of products.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has also openly expressed concern that the West has grown weary of the cost of a war that is causing soaring energy bills and price increases on critical items around the world.
Earlier on Sunday, the G-7 leaders began their meeting placing the conflict in Ukraine at the top of their agenda. The host of the summit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, stated that the G-7 nations’ stances on Ukraine are largely consistent and that they recognise the need to be both firm and careful.
It is significant to mention here that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy reiterated his demands for fresh G-7 sanctions on Russia and for the delivery of additional weapons and air defence systems to Ukraine in his daily address on Sunday, June 26.
“We need a powerful air defence – modern, fully effective which can ensure complete protection against Russian missiles. We talk about this every day with our partners. There are already some agreements. And partners need to move faster if they are really partners, not observers,” Zelenskyy stated. He also claimed that delays in the delivery of weapons to Ukraine essentially make way for repeated attacks from Russia.
