The conflict in Ukraine will continue to dominate the agenda on the second day of a three-day summit of G7 leaders in southern Germany on Monday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky set to join talks via video link, writes MIA.
The leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States descended on Bavaria’s Schloss Elmau resort on Sunday with the aim of jointly increasing pressure on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine and mitigating the negative impacts of the war.
G7 leaders have already used the summit as a forum for the announcement of a ban on imports of Russian gold and a joint infrastructure initiative to counter Chinese influence in middle-income countries. Talks about a possible oil price cap are also under way.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel also took part in Sunday’s discussions. Germany holds this year’s G7 presidency, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz will host the leaders of non-G7 democracies Argentina, India, Indonesia, Senegal and South Africa on Monday to discuss the climate crisis, public health and energy security. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is set to join the group via video link to address the food crisis that has resulted from Russia’s war in Ukraine, which is now in its fifth month.
The conflict is preventing grain from leaving the country’s ports and making food more expensive across the globe, with experts and aid groups warning of the potential for famine in parts of Africa and elsewhere. A security exclusion zone around the venue – where Germany also held its last G7 in 2015 – has sealed the area off to anyone without a permit for the past week. Some 18,000 security personnel are on hand to police the summit and keep order during the numerous planned demonstrations.
