Today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with G7 leaders and expressed his desire for Russia’s war in Ukraine to come to a conclusion before winter sets in.
Zelensky claimed the fighting conditions would make it harder for his forces as they stage their fightback against Vladimir Putin’s army while speaking to the G7 Summit via video link from the Bavarian Alps.
As he demanded anti-aircraft defense systems and security assurances, he pleaded with the G7 leaders to do everything in their power to put an end to the war by the end of the year.
As he emphasized the need to continue heaping “severe” punitive action on Moscow and to “not ease the pressure,” Zelensky also begged the leaders to “intensify sanctions” against Russia.
Under the condition of anonymity, the European official claimed that the Ukrainian president requested assistance with grain exports as well as assistance with reconstruction.
On Monday, the second day of the three-day G7 meeting in southern Germany, Zelensky sent a video message to the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States.
The high-level discussions take place a day after the first attack on Kyiv by Russia in three weeks resulted in the death of one person when a missile damaged a residential building, according to Ukraine.
Russian bombing of the northeastern Kharkiv region during the last 24 hours has claimed the lives of two women, the local governor announced on Monday.
According to a senior U.S. official, the G7 leaders will complete their plans for a price ceiling on Russian oil on Tuesday and agree to a new set of coordinated measures aimed at increasing pressure on Russia over its involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
According to a person familiar with the strategy, the US is also preparing to supply Ukraine advanced anti-aircraft missiles to fend off Russian attacks.
The insider, who asked to remain anonymous, claimed that President Joe Biden “has made the procurement of modern air defence systems for Ukraine a priority.”
An announcement regarding the procurement of a “advanced medium- to long-range surface-to-air missile defense system” and other weapons to support Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion is “expected this week.”
In order to identify the location of enemy artillery fire, this will also contain “more artillery ammunition and counter-battery radars.”
Since the beginning of the invasion in February, Zelensky has argued for stronger defenses against Russian air raids.
Zelensky first concentrated on his rallying cry of “close the skies” with a request for Western nations to send combat planes to Ukraine since Russian aircraft and cruise missiles were bombing Ukrainian army and residential areas every day.
Focus shifted to surface-to-air missiles when the United States and its allies in Europe made it plain that sending planes was too risky and could potentially drag them into the confrontation with Russia.
These weapons, notably the potent S-300 system built by the Soviet Union, are all present in Ukraine.
According to the corporate website, the NASAMS, which was developed by Raytheon in the US in collaboration with Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace of Norway, has been marketed in 12 nations.
Zelensky’s speech to the G7 leaders coincided with reports that Russia had defaulted on its foreign sovereign bonds for the first time since the Bolshevik revolution more than a century prior, as a result of broad sanctions that effectively cut the nation off from the global financial system and rendered its assets untouchable to many investors.
The default, according to a U.S. official, demonstrated how severely the sanctions were affecting Russia’s economy on Monday.
The White House distributed a fact sheet outlining potential G7 moves to boost Ukraine and significantly reduce Moscow’s oil earnings as the official was speaking to reporters.
‘The dual objectives of G7 leaders have been to take direct aim at (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s revenues, particularly through energy, but also to minimize the spillovers and the impact on the G7 economies and the rest of the world,’ the American official stated on the fringes of the yearly G7 summit.
However, the Kremlin denied Monday that it has stopped making payments on its foreign debt.
The Kremlin has said time and time again that there is no reason for Russia to go into default, yet sanctions prevent it from paying bondholders, and it accuses the West of trying to force it into a fake default.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, told reporters on the phone that although Russia had made bond payments that were due in May, Euroclear had stopped them because of Western sanctions against Russia, adding that this was “not our problem.”
Since its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the nation has struggled to make bond payments of $40 billion (£32 billion), as sweeping sanctions have virtually cut the nation off from the world’s financial system and made many investors unable to access the nation’s assets.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Treasury Department effectively stopped Moscow from making payments in late May, making Moscow’s attempts to avert what would be its first significant default on international bonds since the Bolshevik revolution more than a century ago impossible.
“Our position is widely accepted. All attempts to use our reserves will be illegal and amount to open theft because they are being blocked illegally, Peskov added.
The G7 countries, which produce about half of the world’s production, are determined to increase pressure on Russia in reaction to the conflict in Ukraine without igniting the spiraling inflation that is especially detrimental to the developing world.
While really bringing down energy prices, the price cap could hurt the Kremlin’s war chest.
The White House stated in a fact sheet that G7 leaders will also commit to a “extraordinary, long-term security commitment to provide Ukraine with financial, humanitarian, military, and diplomatic support as long as it takes,” including the prompt delivery of cutting-edge weapons.
Russia’s economy has been severely impacted by Western sanctions, and the additional measures are intended to further deprive the Kremlin of oil earnings.
According to the U.S. official, the G7 nations will collaborate with others, notably India, to reduce the amount of money Putin can continue to make.