On Friday in Hiroshima (Japan) began meetings of the leaders of the world’s leading democracies, the “Group of Seven”, or G7. As Reuters notes, during the three-day meeting of the leaders of Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Japan and the United States, they will first have to overcome differences among themselves if they intend to show unity in the face of challenges from Beijing and Moscow. Details of specific disagreements between the leading powers are not given.
Leaders of the European Union traditionally participate in the meetings of the leaders of the leading democratic countries of the world.
Representatives of China and Russia were not invited to Hiroshima even as guests of the summit, Reuters emphasizes.
The summit will last three days.
Among the main topics on the agenda is the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the Associated Press . The summit participants are expected to announce new sanctions against Moscow. The representative of the US delegation noted the intention of the allies to “redouble their efforts” to tighten existing sanctions designed to weaken Russia’s military capabilities and punish those responsible for the aggression.
As a senior US administration official said ahead of the summit, efforts will be focused on making it difficult for Russia to access materials needed to wage war, close loopholes to circumvent sanctions, and reduce dependence on Russian energy.
The US is expected to announce its own package of sanctions. The black list will include about 70 legal entities from Russia and third countries, as well as about 300 more individuals, companies, ships and aircraft. The sanctions will also affect additional sectors of the Russian economy – no details yet. It is expected that other G7 countries will also announce the preparation of their packages of sanctions.
The G7 leaders will also discuss how to track the Russian diamond trade with a view to imposing restrictions on it later, an EU official said Thursday. Sanctions against the Russian trade in diamonds will not be introduced yet – against, in particular, Belgium, where the world’s largest diamond trading center is located, is opposed. The diamond center in Antwerp said that if the sanctions were imposed, it would lose about 30% of its business. However, discussion of this issue continues.
Source : Радио Свобода
