Jun 27, 2022 04:51AM ET
By: AnalysisWatch
A senior U.S. official said Monday that the Group of Seven rich democracies will commit Tuesday to a new package of coordinated actions aimed at increasing pressure on Russia over its war in Ukraine and finalizing plans to cap the price of Russian oil.
The announcement came as Russia appeared to be on the brink of its first sovereign default in decades and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was speaking to G7 leaders gathered at an Alpine resort in southern Germany.
"The dual objective of the G7 leaders has been to directly target Putin's revenues, especially through energy, but also to minimize the spillover effects and the impact on the G7 economies and the rest of the world," the U.S. official said on the sidelines of the annual G7 summit.
The G7 countries, which account for nearly half of the world's economic output, are determined to increase pressure on Russia without stoking already skyrocketing inflation, which is especially affecting the global south. Capping prices could hit the Kremlin's coffers and, at the same time, reduce energy prices.
The G7 leaders will also make an "unprecedented long-term security commitment to provide Ukraine with financial, humanitarian, military, and diplomatic support for as long as necessary," including the timely supply of advanced weaponry, the White House said in a fact sheet.
Western sanctions have hit the Russian economy hard, and the new measures are intended to further deprive the Kremlin of oil revenues. The G7 countries will work with others—including India—to limit the revenue Putin can continue to generate, according to the U.S. official.
This morning's news that Russia has defaulted for the first time in more than a century underscores the forcefulness of the actions that the United States, along with its allies and partners, has taken, as well as the dramatic impact they have had on the Russian economy, "the official added.
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