At their summit in Japan, G7 leaders have agreed sanctions to “starve Russia’s war machine,” just days before Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to join them in person.
The United States and Britain announced fresh sanctions against Russia just as leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) major industrial countries kicked off their summit in Japan on Friday.
London said it plans to target Russian diamonds, while several news outlets reported that Washington planned to go after those entities helping Moscow to circumvent existing sanctions.
Ahead of their talks, the G7 heads of state and government laid wreaths at the memorial to the atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima at the end of World War II.
In a joint statement as the summit got underway, the G7 nations said they were “imposing further sanctions and measures to increase the costs to Russia and those who are supporting its war effort.”
“We are also building on the success of our efforts to ensure that Russia is no longer able to weaponize the availability of energy against us and against the world,” the statement added.
It said that peace in Ukraine cannot be realized “without the complete and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops and military equipment.”
The leaders said they were “renewing our commitment to provide the financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support Ukraine requires for as long as it takes.”—DW
