2023-05-19 12:27:00
New sanctions by the United States, United Kingdom and European Union (EU) against the Russian “war machine” were announced this Friday (19), as part of increased pressure on Moscow by the G7, informed official sources a few hours before the start of a meeting of the group in the city of Hiroshima, Japan.
All the states that make up the G7 are preparing new measures, and the United States is contributing a package of sanctions that “will make it even more difficult for Russia to feed its war machine”, said a senior White House official.
Specifically, the United States will ban American exports to 70 entities in Russia and other countries. They will also apply 300 sanctions against various targets, “individuals, organizations, vessels and aircraft”, in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
In turn, the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, announced that the G7 will apply sanctions against the Russian mining sector – with bans on the import of aluminum, diamonds, copper and nickel.
“As the sanctions announced today show [sexta-feira]the G7 remains united in the face of the threat from Russia and steadfast in our support for Ukraine,” Sunak said in Hiroshima.
Shortly after, European Council President Charles Michel announced that the EU would also impose restrictions on the Russian diamond trade, which is valued at between $4 billion and $5 billion a year. and is a major source of revenue for the Kremlin.
Western countries have adopted an unprecedented series of sanctions against Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022, with the aim of economically affecting that country by reducing the revenue generated by oil and disorganizing its defense industry. His concern now is to prevent Russia from being able to circumvent sanctions, and the latest US measures are also aimed at reducing the risk of that happening.
The United States is looking to “put pressure on the Russian financial sector and on Russian energy production capacity in the medium and long term,” the White House source said. It is also about “maintaining the freezing of sovereign assets” in Russia.
ARRIVAL OF THE LEADERS
The leaders of the G7 began to arrive in Japan this Thursday (18th) for the summit meeting in Hiroshima, which intends to debate more severe sanctions against Russia and evaluate protective measures in the face of “economic coercion” from China.
The Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, receives the heads of government of the other six most industrialized economies in the world (Germany, Canada, United States, France, Italy and United Kingdom) in Hiroshima, a city that is a symbol of nuclear destruction. President Lula, invited to the event by Japanarrived in Hiroshima at dawn on Friday (Thursday afternoon in Brasilia).
At this Friday’s summit, leaders will try to establish a united front against Russia and China. They will also discuss other urgent issues, but which do not generate consensus in the group.
The meeting will be attended by representatives of the European Union (EU). In addition to Lula, Japan invited the leaders of India and Indonesia, among other countries, to try to bring the G7 closer together with developing nations in which China is investing heavily.
Brazil returns to a G7 meeting after 14 years. The last time had been with the petista himself, in 2009.
According to the agenda released by the Planalto Palace, Lula will have working sessions with the leaders of the countries present at the summit and will also maintain an intense agenda of bilateral meetings in the three days of the event with French President, Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the Japanese premier.
Parallel to the summit meeting, Lula will talk to Japanese businessmen and bankers.
US President Joe Biden landed in Hiroshima on Thursday and became the country’s second head of state, after Barack Obama, to visit the city that was destroyed by an atomic bomb dropped by the Americans in 1945.
“We uphold shared values, including support for the people of Ukraine, who defend their sovereign territory, and Russia’s responsibility for its brutal aggression,” Biden said during a meeting with Kishida.
Ukrainian President Volodmir Zelensky is expected to address the group via videoconference.
Germany’s head of government, Olaf Scholz, said the issue is preventing sanctions from being circumvented.
NUCLEAR SHADOW
Putin’s repeated threats to use nuclear weapons have been condemned by the G7 and downplayed by some analysts, who see the speech as an attempt to undermine international support for Ukraine.
The leaders’ visit to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Friday will highlight the theme. The site is a reminder of the 1945 nuclear bomb attack that destroyed the city and killed nearly 140,000 people.
China talks are expected to focus on efforts to protect the G7 economies through diversifying supply chains and markets.
In his disputes with countries such as Australia and Canada, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been willing to block or slow down trade and impose tariffs without prior announcement or explanation.
The United States has taken an aggressive stance in blocking China’s access to the most advanced semiconductors. But European countries, in particular Germany and France, want to ensure that the measures do not imply the breaking of ties with China, one of the largest markets in the world.
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