ELMAU, Germany –
The latest on the G7 summit, the annual meeting of the leading democratic economies, this year is being held in Germany’s Bavarian Alps.
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany – Activists dressed as leaders of the Group of Seven nations staged a protest in a town square in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, near the G7 summit site .
Dressed in traditional Bavarian garb and oversized heads like those of US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other leaders, activists pretended to ‘toast’ a planet Earth at a barbecue on Sunday as the summit began.
“We are expecting a clear signal that they will live up to their Paris agreement commitments and make tangible improvements on climate protection,” said Charlotte Becker of the Oxfam advocacy group.
The NGO is also demanding a tax on excess profits made during the coronavirus pandemic, which it says will generate hundreds of billions of dollars. This money should be used to fight poverty around the world, it said.
Police deployed thousands of police around the summit venue in the Bavarian village of Elmau, in nearby Garmisch-Partenkirchen and in Munich.
A police spokeswoman, Carolin Englert, told the German news agency dpa that so far the protests have been peaceful.
——
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany – Organizers of a rally that had planned to oppose the G7 summit in Elmau, Germany, said they were taking legal action to overturn restrictions restricting the right to protest. their peace.
German news agency dpa reported on Sunday that the group, known as Stop G7 Elmau, had been told it could hold a rally on Monday with up to 50 registered participants, who will be escorted via high security wire to a location 500 meters (approximately 550 yards) from the site.
The Dpa quoted protest organizer Franz Haslbeck as saying the venue of the protest did not conform to a court ruling made in relation to the last G7 in Elmau in 2015 that required protesters to be allowed inside. the “eyes and ears” scope of the place.
A larger series of rallies by leftist groups will take place on Monday, much farther than where the G7 leaders are meeting.
——
The head of the European Union’s government council said the 27-nation bloc maintained “firm solidarity” in supporting Ukraine amid Russia’s aggression.
European Council President Charles Michel said the EU was providing Kyiv with money and political support, adding that “Ukraine needs more and we are committed to providing more.”
The EU has imposed six packages of sanctions on Russia, the latest of which is a ban on 90% of Russian crude oil imports by the end of the year. The measure targets Russia’s oil and gas revenues, which are a mainstay of the Kremlin’s finances.
Michel said at the annual summit of the Group of Seven on Sunday that US proposals for a price cap on Russian oil imports are under discussion.
But he cautioned that “we want to go into detail, we want to fine-tune … to make sure we clearly understand what the direct effects are” if such a step were taken.
——
The wife of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is hosting a small meeting of the spouses of Group of Seven leaders in her first major appearance as first lady.
The German government on Sunday said Britta Ernst will be joined by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s wife, Carrie Johnson; The First Lady of France, Brigitte Macron; and wife of European Council President Charles Michel, Amelie Derbaudrenghien.
Ernst – a politician who claims to be the education minister of the state of Brandenburg, in eastern Germany, where she and her husband live — plans to take her guests on a Nordic walk with former skiers professional Christian Neureuther and Miriam Neureuther.
Sessions with climate change researchers and with a female violinist from nearby Mittenwald are also planned.
US First Lady Jill Biden is expected to travel with President Joe Biden to Madrid, where he will attend a NATO summit that begins on Tuesday.
——
US President Joe Biden says Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes the West will “cut off” as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on.
However, Biden praised the allies for sticking together and siding with the Kremlin during the four months of war, imposing sanctions on Russia while sending weapons to Ukraine.
Welcoming German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday, Biden praised his counterpart for helping to keep the pressure on Russia and encouraged him to keep it up – the central message of Biden’s five-day trip to meet allies at summits in Germany and Spain.
“We have to stay together, because from the very beginning Putin believed that somehow NATO and the G7 would separate,” Biden said. “But we haven’t and we won’t.”
Biden added: “We cannot let this aggression take the form it has and ignore it.”
Scholz, who is hosting the annual Group of Seven summit in the Bavarian mountains, greeted Biden on a balcony overlooking what the US leader called a “beautiful” view of lush greenery and peaks towering mountains.
Biden credited Scholz for helping lead Europe to stand up against Russia, saying his tough response “had a big impact on the movement of the rest of Europe.”
——
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is calling on Group 7 leaders not to give in to “weariness” of the war in Ukraine.
Johnson has expressed concern that divisions could emerge within the pro-Ukrainian alliance as the four-month war continues. He said allies should not pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make territorial concessions in exchange for a ceasefire.
The British leader said at the G7 summit in Germany on Sunday that it was a principle that “a free, independent and sovereign nation like Ukraine should not be subjected to gross aggression and must not be changed.” boundaries by force.”
Asked if he thought France and Germany had done enough, Johnson praised Germany’s “big strides” in arming Ukraine and cutting Russian gas imports.
He did not mention France.
——
US President Joe Biden said that the US and other top seven economies intend to announce a ban on gold imports from Russia.
They hoped that measure would further isolate Russia economically after the invasion of Ukraine.
Biden announced entering Sunday at the start of the G7 annual summit, which this year will be held in Germany.
Senior Biden administration officials say gold is Moscow’s second-biggest export after energy, and the import ban would make it harder for Russia to enter the global market.
Biden’s Twitter feed said Russia “raised tens of billions of dollars” from the sale of gold, the country’s second-biggest export after energy.
Britain says gold exports are worth about $15.5 billion to the Russian economy by 2021 and the value of gold to Russia’s elite has increased since the war began, as wealthy Russians seek to circumvent Western sanctions.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the G7 ban on Russian gold would “hit Russian oligarchs directly and hit the heart of Putin’s war machine.”
——
Germany wants countries to join a climate club to tackle global warming.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will promote his plan at this year’s G7 summit, which he will chair from Sunday.
The idea of a climate club was first mooted by Yale economist William Nordhaus, who says the voluntary nature of current climate agreements has not yielded enough progress.
Club members will agree on ambitious emissions targets and exempt each other from climate-related trade tariffs.
Experts say success depends on attracting many key countries to participate, including major economies from Europe, North America and Asia.
That could put pressure on major polluters in the developing world, such as China and India, to ramp up their efforts or see their exports hit. tax.
——
US President Joe Biden has traveled to the German Bavarian Alps for the annual meeting of leading democracies, with the war in Ukraine and its aftermath being in focus.
Biden and his Group of Seven allies plan to discuss how to secure energy supplies and tackle inflation amid Russia’s aggression.
The G7 summit is also intended to ensure that the global alliance that is working to punish the Kremlin for the four-month war is on hold.
Biden will begin his visit on Sunday with a bilateral meeting with the summit’s host, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
In the afternoon, Biden met in both formal and informal spaces with the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Union.
