Group of Seven (G7) are pushing for more sanctions against Russia despite their harrowing situation on what approach will be taken
Group of Seven (G7) nations have planned to increase and tighten the sanctions on Russia at their summit in Japan this week. These new measures are targeted at energy and exports aiding the Russian War efforts in Ukraine. These measures were announced will be announced during the main summit taking place on May 19-21,2024 in Hiroshima. The joint statement will target sanction evasions which involve third countries as well as trade segments that could support Russia.
Understanding G7
G7 or Group of Seven refers to an international forum which consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US as its members, making up the majority of the world’s most developed economies and democracies. It was formerly known as the G8 which included Russia as the eighth member, however, Russia was expelled in 2014 after its invasion for annexing Crimea.
The G7 is currently chaired by Japan, the only Asian Nation in this forum and the forum also includes the European Union as a “non-enumerated” member.
The G7 is considered to have a significant influence on the global political sphere
Stances of G7 Nations on the Sanctions
The US leadership has pushed G7 nations to reverse the group’s older sanctions approach, which allows all goods to be sold to Russia unless they are explicitly blacklisted. The new approach will only allow the export of certain goods which are approved on a new list and other goods will be automatically blacklisted. As of now, the application of these new measures is being discussed through negotiations among the member states.
Earlier, 5 of the G7 Nations agreed to push out Russian Energy from the global market at the G7 Energy Ministers meeting held at Sapporo, Japan.
This move could trouble Russia in finding any loopholes in the upcoming sanctions.
As per sources, some of the nations have not agreed to apply the more-restrictive approach of banning all trade and later on issuing exemptions. However, the US expects that the G7 members will adopt the new policy to target the areas which could critically impact Russia in the long run.
The anonymous US source stated that one can expect to see changes in various spaces which are specifically related to the Russian Military Industry Complex as well as work in the long run to restrict the Russian Leadership. However, another official who is associated with Germany quoted that the approach of banning everything first and allowing exemptions later will not work in their view. They also want to be precise about the steps undertaken to avoid any negative impact.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stated last month that a G7 move to ban exports to the country would lead Russia to terminate a Black Sea grain deal which would enable vital exports of grain from Ukraine, an issue crucially under the purview of G7 Nations.
Measures Taken by Other Nations
The G7 leaders’ action on Russia comes after the decision taken by Ukraine’s Western allies who are looking for ways to tighten the already restrictive sanctions on Russia. Some of the options considered included export controls, visa restrictions and an oil price cap. These measures were somewhat effective in putting pressure on Russia to scale down the Invasion
The European Union took its approach with sanctions and is currently discussing its 11th package of sanctions on Russia targeting Companies from China, Iran, Kazakhstan and Armenia, individuals involved in separating Ukrainian Children from their families and other related restrictions related to Oil exports.
Due to Differing stances between the G7 Member Nations, we all have to wait for the main summit at Hiroshima to find out what the final decision will be taken by all of these nations.
