- ARAB NEWS
- 26 Apr 2024
Since 1975
SCHLOSS ELMAU (Germany): Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio announced a plan to extend 200 million dollars in aid to help Middle East and African nations hurt by soaring food prices and raise storage capacities to facilitate grain export resumption by Ukraine.
Kishida made the announcement at the three-day summit of the Group of Seven leaders in Schloss Elmau, Germany.
“It is the responsibility of the international community to support Ukraine fighting on the front line,” Kishida told his G-7 peers.
Meawnhile, the leaders of the Group of Seven major powers confirmed the continuance of humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine.
The leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union issued a joint statement on Ukraine.
“We will continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” the statement said.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to our unprecedented coordinated sanctions measures in response to Russia’s war of aggression” against Ukraine, the statement also said.
The G-7 members said they will explore ways to use revenues from tariffs on imports from Russia in order to assist Ukraine, while expressing their determination to reduce Russia’s revenues including from gold.
Regarding the allegations that Russia has stolen Ukrainian grain during the war, the G-7 leaders agreed to impose fresh sanctions on whoever was involved, according to U.S. government officials.
The leaders also reached a broad agreement to set a ceiling on Russian oil prices as part of economic sanctions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined the G-7 summit online, expressing gratitude for the assistance and sanctions by the G-7 members, according to Ukrainian government officials.
He welcomed the planned cap on Russian oil prices while asking for cooperation to resolve the food crisis caused by Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian grain exports and help Ukraine rebuild its war-torn country.
The G-7 leaders also discussed food security, including how to secure alternative routes of grain exports amid Russia’s blockade and support African and other developing countries hit hard by the global food price rises.
The leaders confirmed their countries’ commitment to realizing carbon neutrality by 2050. Meanwhile, they are unlikely to agree on a deadline for scrapping coal-fired thermal power plants where no measures are taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
JIJI Press
