G7 leaders prepare aid for Ukraine, sanctions for Russia

Leading economic powers conferred by video link with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday as they underscored their commitment to Ukraine for “as long as it takes” with plans to pursue a price cap on Russian oil, raise tariffs on Russian goods and impose other new sanctions.

In addition, the US is preparing to announce the purchase of an advanced surface-to-air missile system for Kyiv to help Ukraine fight back against Russia.

The new aid and efforts by the Group of Seven leaders to punish Moscow come as Zelensky has openly expressed his worries 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.

Zelensky told the leaders that now is not a time for negotiation with Russia because he needs to be in stronger position first, according to a senior French diplomat. The Ukrainian leader said “he will negotiate when he will be in a position to do so,” said the diplomat, who speaking under condition of anonymity in line with the French presidency’s customary practices.

“His goal is to end the war as quickly as possible and to get out of it in the best possible position, so that he can negotiate from a position of strength,” the diplomat said, adding that Zelensky told the summit leaders that he needs economic, financial and military support.

After hearing from Zelensky, the leaders pledged in a statement to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes.” They underlined their “unwavering commitment to support the government and people of Ukraine” in the battle for their country.

They said it is up to Ukraine to decide on a future peace settlement.

The leaders are finalizing the deal to seek a price cap during their three-day G7 summit in the German Alps. The details of how a price cap would work, as well as its impact on the Russian economy, are to be resolved by G7 finance ministers, according to a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview announcements from the summit.

The largest democratic economies will also commit to raising tariffs on Russian imports to their countries, with the US announcing new tariffs on 570 categories of goods, as well as use of sanctions to target Russia’s defence supply chains that support its effort to rearm during the war.

Biden is expected to soon announce the US is purchasing NASAMS, a Norwegian-developed anti-aircraft system, to provide medium- to long-range defense, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. NASAMS is the same system used by the US to protect the sensitive airspace around the White House and US Capitol in Washington.

Additional aid includes more ammunition for Ukrainian artillery, as well as counter-battery radars, to support its efforts against Russia in the Donbas, the person said. Biden is also announcing a $7.5 billion commitment to help Ukraine’s government meet its expenses, as part of a drawdown of the $40 billion military and economic aid package he signed into law last month.

The G7 leaders opened Monday’s session with a focus on Ukraine. They were later joined by the leaders of five democratic emerging economies — India, Indonesia, South Africa, Senegal and Argentina — for a discussion of climate change, energy and other issues.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the summit host, said the G7 countries’ policies on Ukraine are “very much aligned,” and that they see the need to be both tough and cautious.

Scholz said after meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday that “we are taking tough decisions, that we are also cautious, that we will help ... Ukraine as much as possible but that we also avoid that there will be a big conflict between Russia and NATO.”

The chancellor added that “this is what is of essence — to be tough and thinking about the necessities of the time we are living in.”

Britain’s Boris Johnson said that under the circumstances the G7 has to “continue to help the Ukrainians to rebuild their economy, to get their grain out, to export their grain, and, of course, we have to help them to protect themselves. And that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”

Biden said Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “has been counting on, from the beginning, that somehow NATO and the G7 would splinter, but we haven’t and we’re not going to.”

Biden hopes to use the trip to demonstrate unity of the coalition pressing to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine as much as he is urging allies to do even more. It’s an important moment for the US president seeking to counter doubts about the West’s endurance as the war grinds into its fifth month.

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