The United States has said the Group of Seven (G7) countries will ban imports of Russian gold from tightening sanctions against Moscow, which carried out rocket attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Sunday after gaining ground in the eastern part of the country. Region of Luhansk. †
“Together, the G7 will announce that we will ban imports of Russian gold, an important export that brings in tens of billions of dollars for Russia,” President Joe Biden said as leaders of the world’s richest countries gathered in the Bavarian Alps.
The UK initially flagged the measure as a joint action with other G7 members Canada, Japan, and the US.
However, a senior US government representative who spoke anonymously told reporters that the G7 would make an official announcement on Tuesday regarding the ban on gold imports.
James Bays of Al Jazeera, who covered the G7 summit, said Sunday’s first session would focus on the global economy and the “deeply disturbing picture” as the conflict in Ukraine drives inflation and energy prices up.
Bays added that the sanction of Russian gold had been hailed as one of the summit’s achievements and is likely to continue. But considering their economies, the G7 leaders are unlikely to give the green light to additional sanctions, “particularly the import of gas from Russia to Europe,” he said.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on G7 countries to respond to the new missile attack on Kyiv by imposing further sanctions on Russia and supplying more heavy weapons to Ukraine.
“This 7-year-old Ukrainian boy slept peacefully in Kyiv until a Russian cruise missile shot her home. Many more people in Ukraine have gone on strike. The G7 summit must respond with more sanctions against Russia and more heavy weapons for Ukraine,” Kuleba said on Twitter.
This 7-year-old Ukrainian boy slept peacefully in Kyiv until a Russian cruise missile shot her home. Many more people in Ukraine have gone on strike. The G7 summit must respond with more sanctions against Russia and heavy weapons for Ukraine. Sick Russian imperialism must be defeated. pic.twitter.com/0kn2hl7A4x
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) June 26, 2022
Gold exports are an important source of income for Russia
Gold exports are an important source of income for Russia in terms of its ability to transact with the global financial system.
Last year they were worth £12.6 billion ($15.45 billion), and wealthy Russians have been buying precious metals to mitigate the financial impact of Western sanctions.
The repression is probably the most significant economic measure against Moscow announced at the three-day G7 meeting.
Sanctions against Moscow are beginning to deeply affect Russia’s economy and President Vladimir Putin’s long-term ability to continue the invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth month.
The London gold market had already shut down six Russian refineries by March 7.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement that the gold ban would “hit Russian oligarchs directly and hit the heart of Putin’s war machine”.
“We must starve the Putin regime of its funding. The UK and our allies are doing just that,” he said.
Western countries imposed widespread sanctions on Moscow targeting its finances, including freezing central bank assets to block access to foreign exchange reserves.
European Union leaders agreed earlier this month to cut 90 percent of oil imports from Russia by the end of this year, cutting off a vital source of financing for Moscow.
The G7 summit offers German Chancellor Olaf Scholz an opportunity to demonstrate more assertive leadership in the wake of the crisis in Ukraine.
Scholz promised a revolution in German foreign and defense policy after the Russian invasion in February and vowed to bolster the army and send weapons to Ukraine. But critics have since accused him of dragging and sending mixed messages.
“The summit should convey not only that NATO and the G7 are more united than ever but also that the democracies of the world stand together against Putin’s imperialism, just as they do in the fight against hunger and poverty. Scholz told German. Parliament this week.
Biden told Scholz on Sunday that the West must remain united against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We need to stick together,” Biden told Scholz at a meeting ahead of the G7 summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin had hoped “that NATO and the G7 would somehow shatter,” Biden said. “But we haven’t done that, and we won’t.”
