ELMAU, Germany (AP) – The economic powers of the Group of Seven will pledge long-term support to Ukraine, and the US is preparing to announce the purchase of an advanced surface-to-air missile system for Kyiv. Leaders are also willing to announce an agreement to reach a cap on Russian oil prices, raise tariffs on Russian goods and impose new sanctions on hundreds of officials and entities that support the four-month war.
Leaders were finalizing the deal to seek a price cap during their three-day summit in the German Alps, where they chatted on video with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Details of how a price cap would work, as well as its impact on the Russian economy, should be resolved by G-7 finance ministers in the coming weeks and months, a senior government official said. on condition of anonymity. to advance the announcements of the G-7 leaders’ summit.
Larger democratic economies will also pledge to increase tariffs on Russian imports to their countries, with the US announcing new tariffs on 570 categories of goods, as well as the use of sanctions to target Russia’s defense supply chains which support their efforts to rearm during the war. .
Biden will announce that the United States is providing an advanced surface-to-air missile system in Ukraine, as well as additional artillery support, according to a person familiar with the matter, in the latest assistance aimed at helping the country defend itself against Russia. bloody invasion.
The United States is acquiring NASAMS, an anti-aircraft system developed in Norway, to offer medium- and long-range defense, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity. NASAMS is the same system used by the U.S. to protect sensitive airspace around the White House and the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
Additional aid includes more ammunition for Ukrainian artillery, as well as counter-battery radars, to support their efforts against the Russian assault on the Donbas, the person said. Biden also announces a $ 7.5 billion commitment to help the Ukrainian government meet its expenses, as part of a withdrawal of the $ 40 billion military and economic aid package it signed as law last month.
G-7 leaders began Monday’s session of their three-day summit focusing on Ukraine. Later, they will be joined by leaders from five emerging democratic economies — India, Indonesia, South Africa, Senegal, and Argentina — for a discussion on climate change, energy, and other issues.
The war in Ukraine was already at the forefront of the minds of G-7 leaders when they opened their summit on Sunday at the secluded luxury hotel Schloss Elmau, just as Russian missiles hit the Ukrainian capital Kyiv for the first time in weeks.
Biden said on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “has relied, from the beginning, that somehow NATO and the G-7 would split, but we haven’t done it and we won’t.” Britain’s Boris Johnson warned leaders not to give in to “fatigue”.
Biden hopes to use his trip to Europe to proclaim the unity of the coalition that is pressing to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine as much as it urges allies to do even more, seeking to counter doubts about its resistance as the war reaches the fifth. month.
The summit’s host, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said last week that he wants to discuss the outlines of a “Marshall Plan for Ukraine” with his G-7 counterparts, referring to the US-sponsored plan that helped revive European economies after World War II. .
With war still ongoing and destruction increasing every day, it is unlikely to be a detailed plan at this stage. Scholz has said that “rebuilding Ukraine will be a task for generations.”
The G-7 is already committed to helping finance Ukraine’s immediate needs. The group’s finance ministers agreed last month to provide $ 19.8 billion in financial aid to help Kyiv keep basic services running and prevent tight finances from hindering its defense against Russian forces.
A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private talks between G-7 leaders, said the US and Europe are aligned in their goals for a negotiated end to the conflict, even if their roles sometimes seem different.
Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron have tried to facilitate this through active talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy, while supplying weapons to Ukraine. The US has largely cut off important talks with Russia and aims to strengthen Ukraine’s battlefield capacity as much as possible so that its eventual position at the negotiating table is stronger.
The durability of harsh sanctions in Russia can ultimately be reduced to whether the G-7 and other leaders can identify ways to alleviate power supply problems and soaring prices once winter arrives, as they seek disengage from Russian fuel sources.
The G-7 meeting is interspersed between a European Union summit last week that agreed to give Ukraine candidate status – starting a process that will likely take years without any guarantee of success – and a NATO leaders’ summit begins. Tuesday in Madrid.
G-7 leaders — the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, and Japan — can look forward to bringing their counterparts from their five invited countries closer to Western views on sanctions against Russia.
Scholz also wants to win over these countries for his idea of a “climate club” for nations that want to move forward when it comes to tackling the problem.
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Moulson reported from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
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