G7 holds call with Zelensky as US sanctions Russia
In a statement, the Group of Seven (G7) countries - France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the US - committed to “phasing out or banning” the import of Russian oil
A day before Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to give a major address on Russia’s Victory day amid the war in Ukraine, leaders of G7 countries on Sunday held virtual talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and commemorated the 77th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe, as the US ramped up sanctions against Russia for the invasion of its neighbour.
In a statement, the Group of Seven (G7) countries - France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the US - committed to “phasing out or banning” the import of Russian oil. They also recognised the economic implications of the war in Ukraine on energy, fertiliser provision, food security and supply chains — a point India has flagged consistently — and called on Russia to “end its blockade and other activities” that impede Ukrainian food production and exports.
The group announced a Global Alliance for Food Security to address the “causes and consequences of the global food crisis”, reiterated that sanctions don’t impede the delivery of humanitarian assistance or trade of agricultural products, and reaffirmed their commitment to “avoid food export restrictions” that impact the most vulnerable.
For his part, the Ukrainian president emphasised that Ukraine was relying on its international partners to provide assistance “in the domain of defence capabilities”, ensuring a swift and effective recovery of Ukraine’s economy, and securing its economic and energy security. He also made it clear that Ukraine’s aim was “ensure full withdrawal of Russia’s military forces and equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine”.
G7 leaders pledged to support Ukraine to “secure its free and democratic future”, pursue their ongoing military and defence assistance to its armed forces, help defending Ukraine’s networks against cyber incidents, and expand cooperation, including on information security. Since the start of the war, G7 countries have already provided or pledged additional support of over $24 billion for 2022 and beyond, in financial and material terms, to Ukraine.
G7 leaders also said they would hold Putin accountable. “Under no circumstances can civilians and those not taking an active part in the hostilities be legitimate targets. We will spare no effort to hold President Putin and the architects and accomplices of this aggression...accountable for their actions in accordance with international law,” they said.
US announces new sanctions
Meanwhile, the US announced a new set of economic measures targeting Russian for its invasion of Ukraine.
The new economic measures targeted Russian state-owned broadcasters by prohibiting western advertisement and technological wherewithal; prohibited any western management consultancy or accounting firms to provide any services to Russia; added to export control restrictions aimed at Russia’s military-industry complex; and expanded the list of Russian elites — officials, military personnel and banking executive — now facing western sanctions and visa restrictions.
In a signal of America’s continued support to Ukraine, US First Lady Jill Biden, also made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Sunday, and met Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska in Uzhohorod, a town near the Ukraine-Slovakia border.
Saying that she wanted to make the visit on Mother’s Day, Biden said, “I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop, and this war has been brutal, and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.”
Reviewing the impact of the sanctions announced so far, a factsheet released by the US administration claimed that sanctions had already “strangled Russia’s access to critical technology and supply chains”. They had wiped out 15 years of economic gains in Russia and forced Russia into a situation where it was struggling to replenish its military needs with two major tank plants halting work. They had also led to the exit of 1000 private sector companies and reportedly more than 200,000 Russians, especially highly-skilled.
The new set of sanctions has five major components.
First, G7 leaders committed to “phasing out” their dependence on Russian energy, including by “phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil”. This, the statement said, will be done in a “timely and orderly fashion”, and in a way to provide time to secure alternative supplies.
“As we do so, we will work together and with our partners to ensure stable and sustainable global energy supplies and affordable prices for consumers, including by accelerating reduction of our overall reliance on fossil fuels and our transition to clean energy in accordance with our climate objectives,” it said.
The second set of measures revolved around a ban on services that are seen as helping Russia and prohibit US persons from providing any accounting, trust and corporate formation, and management consulting services to any person in the Russian Federation.
“These services are key to Russian companies and elites building wealth, thereby generating revenue for Putin’s war machine, and to trying to hide that wealth and evade sanctions. This action builds on previous prohibitions to restrict the export of goods related to aerospace, marine, electronics, technology, and defense and related materiel sectors of the Russian economy,” the factsheet said.
Providing context for the move, a senior administration official told reporters that this ban will extend to the big four — in the consultancy and accounting world, this refers to Deloitte, E&Y, PwC and KPMG — which together have over 10,000 employees in Russia. Legal services are not on the list.
The third cluster of sanctions were against three Russian channels, either directly owned or indirectly controlled by the state, in a bid to weaken what the West sees as Moscow’s disinformation efforts. The senior administration official quoted above said that western advertisement revenue amounted to over $300 million for these channels last year, and western technology inputs, from video cameras to microphones to lighting equipment, were used by these channels — none of this will be allowed anymore to prevent western companies from “aiding Russia’s disinformation campaign”.
The fourth cluster of sanctions revolved around further export controls aimed at Russia’s industries. The factsheet said that there would be restrictions on wood products, industrial engines, boilers, motors, fans, ventilation equipment, bulldozers and other items with “industrial and commercial applications” to further “limit Russia’s access to items and revenue that could support its military capabilities”.
The US has also sanctioned a set of Russian defence and shipping firms, while the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will suspend “general licenses for exports of source material, special nuclear material, byproduct material and deuterium to Russia”.
The final cluster of restrictions aim at Russian elites as well as Belarusian officials, as well as eight executives from Sberbank, 27 executives from Gazprombank, and Moscow Industrial Bank and its ten subsidiaries. But Gazprombank itself, which facilitates transactions around the export of natural gas by Gazprom to Europe, hasn’t been sanctioned.
