JAKARTA - United States President Joe Biden told his allies "we must stick together" against Russia on Sunday, as G7 leaders gather for a summit, amid the war in Ukraine and its impact on food and energy supplies and the global economy.
At the start of the meeting in the Bavarian Alps, four of the Group of Seven rich nations moved to ban imports of Russian gold to tighten sanctions pressuring Moscow and cut off its means to finance the invasion of Ukraine.
However, it is unclear whether there is a G7 consensus on the plan, with European Council President Charles Michel saying the issue needs to be handled with care and discussed further.
At the start of the bilateral meeting, President Biden thanked Scholz for showing leadership in Ukraine and said Russian President Vladimir Putin had failed to destroy their unity.
"Putin has relied on it from the start that somehow NATO and the G7 will split. But we haven't done it and we won't," Biden said.
The summit provided an opportunity for Scholz to demonstrate more assertive leadership in the Ukraine crisis.
He vowed to revolutionize Germany's foreign and defense policies after Russia's invasion in February, but critics have since accused him of dragging his feet.
Britain, the United States, Japan and Canada agreed to a new ban on Russian gold imports, the British government said on Sunday, as reported by Reuters June 27.
Britain said the ban was aimed at wealthy Russians who had bought safe-haven bullion, to reduce the financial impact of Western sanctions. Russia's gold exports were worth $15.5 billion last year.
The G7 leaders in Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada, are also having very constructive talks about a possible cap on Russia's oil prices, a German government source said.
Meanwhile, a French presidential official said Paris would push for curbs on oil and gas prices and was open to discussing US proposals.
Previously, G7 leaders did agree on a pledge to raise $600 billion in private and public funds for developing countries to counter China's growing influence and soften the impact of soaring food and energy prices.
It is known that the host of the G7, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, invited Senegal, Argentina, Indonesia, India, and South Africa as partner countries at the summit. Many countries in the southern hemisphere fear additional damage from Western sanctions against Russia.
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An EU official said the G7 countries would impress partner nations that rising food prices were the result of Russia's actions not Western sanctions.
In addition, the G7 leaders are also expected to discuss options to address rising energy prices and replace Russian oil and gas imports, as well as further sanctions that do not exacerbate the cost of living crisis affecting their own populations.
Soaring global energy and food prices hit economic growth after the conflict in Ukraine, with the United Nations warning of an "unprecedented global hunger crisis", and, climate change is also set in the agenda of the G7 meeting this time.
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