G7 with much support for Ukraine – front against Russia and China
Published: Friday, Jun 14th 2024, 18:20
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Within a week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has received a great deal of international support and billions in aid for his fight against Russia. Following the Berlin Reconstruction Conference and the G7 summit in Italy, Ukraine will be able to campaign for peace in Switzerland this weekend.
Heads of state and government as well as high-ranking representatives from around 90 countries are expected at a luxury hotel near Lucerne. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz is coming for Germany - directly from Italy, where the summit of the seven leading democratic industrialized nations officially ends on Saturday.
Putin threatens angrily
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened the G7 with consequences. The heads of state and government of the USA, Canada, Japan, France, Great Britain, Germany and Italy had decided that interest income from frozen Russian assets should be used to pay off a loan of 50 billion US dollars (47 billion euros). The money should be available at the end of the year and can be used for arms purchases, reconstruction and the budget.
Putin sharply criticized the plan. The Western states were currently trying to find a legal basis for their decision, he said in Moscow on Friday. "But regardless of all the tricks: robbery definitely remains robbery," said Putin. The G7's decision would "not go unpunished".
Peace conference - without Russia and China
Russia is not at the table when the international conference in Switzerland discusses the first building blocks of a peace process for the war in Ukraine. Vice President Kamala Harris is coming from the USA. China and other countries close to the aggressor Russia are staying away from the meeting.
The delegations want to discuss issues such as grain exports from Ukraine, the safety of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant and humanitarian issues such as the exchange of prisoners. The initiative came from Ukraine, whose President Volodymyr Selenskyj will be present. He arrived in Switzerland on Friday.
The hosts hope that a follow-up conference will be decided this year - and that Russia will then also take part. Rapid success on the way to ending the war is not expected.
The Pope makes his debut and talks about AI
At the summit in Italy, the G7 states demonstrated their unity against Putin and their intention to continue supporting Ukraine in its defensive struggle against Russia. The war dominated the first day of the summit, with other topics such as the difficult relations with China, economic security and migration taking center stage on Friday. A historic visitor also landed at the luxury resort "Borgo Egnazia" on the southern Italian Adriatic coast: Pope Francis was the first pope in almost 50 years of G7 history to take part in a meeting of the group.
The head of the Church of more than 1.3 billion Catholics urged heads of state and government of the G7 group of states and other countries to take a cautious approach to artificial intelligence (AI). Francis said that on the one hand, AI inspires enthusiasm because of its possibilities, but on the other hand, it instills fear because of its dangers. "It is up to everyone to use it sensibly," said the Pope. "And it is up to politicians to create the conditions for such positive use to be possible and fruitful."
Controversial topic of abortion
The summit declaration was also officially adopted on Friday. Host Giorgia Meloni had already announced on Thursday that an agreement had been reached. However, it was the Italian head of government who prevented the group from renewing a clear commitment to the right to abortion in its declaration. Now it is only emphasized that women have the right to adequate health services. The G7 express the general intention to promote "sexual and reproductive health and rights" (SRHR). Reproductive rights are understood to mean, for example, that women can decide for themselves when they want to have children. The word abortion is explicitly not mentioned.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his regret. His country had recently included the right to abortion and the freedom to dispose of one's own body in the constitution.
Sharper tone towards China
The G7 states had harsh words for China - on the one hand as a friend of Russia and on the other as a difficult economic partner for the West. China must stop supplying Russia with goods that can also be used for military purposes, they demanded. This is because supporting the Russian defense industry enables Moscow to continue its illegal war in Ukraine and therefore also has considerable and far-reaching security policy consequences.
The G7 also accuses China of using anti-competitive practices such as subsidies to create overcapacity and distort competition. This endangers the economic resilience of the G7 countries, including jobs. China is also indirectly threatened with further punitive tariffs.
"Happy Birthday" Chancellor
For Chancellor Scholz, the difficult week following the European election results for his SPD took a conciliatory turn. His G7 colleagues celebrated his 66th birthday on Friday. Some of them sang "Happy Birthday".
©Keystone/SDA
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