The three-day G7 leaders’ summit, held in the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the German state of Bavaria, started today. Making a statement before the summit, US President Joe Biden announced that the G7 countries will ban gold imports from Russia.
“The United States imposed unprecedented costs on (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to deprive him of the revenues needed to fund his war against Ukraine,” Biden tweeted.
“Together, we will announce that we, as the G7, will ban the import of Russian gold,” said Biden, adding that gold exports bring tens of billions of dollars to Russia.
JOHNSON: TAKING RUSSIAN OLIGARC
The British government has also announced that the UK, USA, Japan and Canada will ban gold imports from Russia. It was stated that the ban will come into effect shortly and covers newly mined or refined gold. It has been announced that gold imported from Russia is not within the scope of the ban. In London’s statement, it was noted that Russia’s gold exports last year were worth about 15 billion 450 million dollars.
“The measures we announced today are hitting the Russian oligarchs directly and attacking the heart of Putin’s war machine,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
G7 STATEMENT ON TUESDAY
A senior US administration official said the G7 will announce on Tuesday the steps it will take to increase pressure on Russia. Stating that gold ranks second among the goods exported by Russia, the official stated that with these steps, Russia will continue to be isolated from the world economy.
On the first day of the summit, held in Elmau Castle, near the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the situation of the world economy, foreign and security policies, especially the new sanctions against Russia, are on the agenda. In addition to the leaders of Germany, France, England, Italy, Canada, Japan and the USA, the President of the European Council Charles Michel and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen are also attending the summit.
dpa, Reuters/EC, SSB