G-7 leaders spare Russia further sanctions
by James G Neuger and Ian Wishart,
2014-06-06 08:30:00.0
BRUSSELS — Group of Seven (G-7) leaders spared Russia further sanctions in favour of diplomatic efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis, giving the Kremlin another chance to cut off support to pro-Moscow separatists seeking to break up the country.
The world’s leading developed economies urged Russia to complete the pullback of its troops from Ukraine’s eastern border, according to a statement issued late on Thursday after the first session of a two-day G-7 meeting in Brussels. "We stand ready to intensify targeted sanctions and to implement significant additional restrictive measures" in the absence of a peaceful settlement, they warned.
Russia’s seizure of Crimea and menace to eastern Ukraine led the US and European Union (EU) to impose asset freezes and travel bans on 98 people and 20 companies, while stopping short of broader curbs on investment and trade that might damage western economies as well.
"With our good balance of diplomatic efforts but also the repeated threat of sanctions we managed to achieve quite a bit for Ukraine, though not enough," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters after a working dinner. "We want to pursue this path and not any other."
Debate over further penalties is seething in the 28-nation EU, which relies on Russia for 30% of its natural gas supply.
Germany’s government has faced down business leaders who objected to sanctions, while gas customers such as Slovakia have opposed a tougher line. French President Francois Hollande reaffirmed plans to go ahead with the sale of two Mistral helicopter carriers to the Russian navy.
Russia’s benchmark Micex stock index rose 0.4% at just before midday in Moscow, gaining for a fourth day.
The statement faulted Russian President Vladimir Putin for stirring up the insurrection in eastern Ukraine, calling on the Kremlin "to exercise its influence among armed separatists to lay down their weapons and renounce violence". Leaders also called on Ukraine’s authorities to "maintain a measured approach" in their operations to quell the violence in the mainly Russian-speaking Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The Brussels meeting is the second since the seven nations — the US, Germany, Japan, UK, France, Italy and Canada, joined by the EU’s top officials — disbarred Russia from what had been known as the G-8 since 1998. The draft statement gave no indication when Russia would be invited back in.
"It’s only a suspension, it’s not a permanent exclusion," EU president Herman Van Rompuy said before the meeting. "It will be for the G-7 leaders to agree on when and if Russia has sufficiently changed its course and when and if the environment has returned to a situation where the G-8 can have a meaningful discussion."
At least three G-7 leaders — Ms Merkel, Mr Hollande and UK Prime Minister David Cameron — will hold one-on-one meetings with Mr Putin this week, with more contact possible when he appears at a D-Day commemoration today in France.
Bloomberg
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Picture: REUTERS
BRUSSELS — Group of Seven (G-7) leaders spared Russia further sanctions in favour of diplomatic efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis, giving the Kremlin another chance to cut off support to pro-Moscow separatists seeking to break up the country.
The world’s leading developed economies urged Russia to complete the pullback of its troops from Ukraine’s eastern border, according to a statement issued late on Thursday after the first session of a two-day G-7 meeting in Brussels. "We stand ready to intensify targeted sanctions and to implement significant additional restrictive measures" in the absence of a peaceful settlement, they warned.
Russia’s seizure of Crimea and menace to eastern Ukraine led the US and European Union (EU) to impose asset freezes and travel bans on 98 people and 20 companies, while stopping short of broader curbs on investment and trade that might damage western economies as well.
"With our good balance of diplomatic efforts but also the repeated threat of sanctions we managed to achieve quite a bit for Ukraine, though not enough," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters after a working dinner. "We want to pursue this path and not any other."
Debate over further penalties is seething in the 28-nation EU, which relies on Russia for 30% of its natural gas supply.
Germany’s government has faced down business leaders who objected to sanctions, while gas customers such as Slovakia have opposed a tougher line. French President Francois Hollande reaffirmed plans to go ahead with the sale of two Mistral helicopter carriers to the Russian navy.
Russia’s benchmark Micex stock index rose 0.4% at just before midday in Moscow, gaining for a fourth day.
The statement faulted Russian President Vladimir Putin for stirring up the insurrection in eastern Ukraine, calling on the Kremlin "to exercise its influence among armed separatists to lay down their weapons and renounce violence". Leaders also called on Ukraine’s authorities to "maintain a measured approach" in their operations to quell the violence in the mainly Russian-speaking Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The Brussels meeting is the second since the seven nations — the US, Germany, Japan, UK, France, Italy and Canada, joined by the EU’s top officials — disbarred Russia from what had been known as the G-8 since 1998. The draft statement gave no indication when Russia would be invited back in.
"It’s only a suspension, it’s not a permanent exclusion," EU president Herman Van Rompuy said before the meeting. "It will be for the G-7 leaders to agree on when and if Russia has sufficiently changed its course and when and if the environment has returned to a situation where the G-8 can have a meaningful discussion."
At least three G-7 leaders — Ms Merkel, Mr Hollande and UK Prime Minister David Cameron — will hold one-on-one meetings with Mr Putin this week, with more contact possible when he appears at a D-Day commemoration today in France.
Bloomberg
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