G7 leaders meeting in Hiroshima, Japan on Friday agreed to new sanctions to deprive Russia of funds to help it in its military action against Ukraine, the bloc said in a statement.
The measures aim to “deprive Russia of G7 technology, industrial equipment and services that support its military enterprise,” the leaders said in a statement, quoted by France’s AFP news agency.
The sanctions include restrictions on the export of goods “needed by Russia on the battlefield”, as well as the identification of individuals accused of transporting equipment to the front lines on behalf of Moscow.
The decision comes after the United States, Britain and the European Union (EU) announced new efforts to harden their stance on Moscow, 15 months after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine.
The United States set the tone by announcing new sanctions against Moscow this morning to “significantly limit Russia’s access to products essential to its combat capabilities.”
The UK has followed suit with new measures targeting Russia’s mining sector, including the lucrative diamond industry, which earns Moscow billions of dollars a year.
“Today, we reaffirmed our commitment to act as a united front against Russia’s illegal, unjustified and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine,” the G7 leaders said in a statement.
The group of major industrialized democracies of the world includes Japan, the current chairman of the G7, Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. The EU also participates in the group.
In the communiqué, the G7 leaders also commit to “restrict the trade and use of diamonds mined, processed or produced in Russia”, namely through the use of tracking technologies.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is expected in Hiroshima for a summit that will last until Sunday.
Japanese government sources told the Spanish news agency EFE that Zelensky is due to arrive on Saturday to take part in a meeting on the war in Ukraine on Sunday.
The Ukrainian head of state is also due to hold bilateral meetings with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022 to “demilitarize and denazify” the neighboring country.
He has since declared the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions of Ukraine annexed to the Russian Federation after he did the same with Crimea in 2014.
Ukraine and the world community as a whole do not recognize Russia’s sovereignty in the annexed regions.
The conflict plunged Europe into what is considered the worst security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
The number of dead and wounded since the beginning of the war is unknown, but several sources, including those at the UN, admit that it will be high.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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