New sanctions, price caps for oil: This is how the anti-Putin summit is putting pressure on Moscow

Berlin courier New sanctions, price caps for oil: This is how the anti-Putin summit is putting pressure on Moscow dpa, epd - 3 hours ago | Against the picture-postcard backdrop of the Bavarian Alps, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and his wife Britta Ernst welcomed their high-ranking guests to the G7 summit at Schloss Elmau in bright sunshine. In the midst of the idyll, however, the summit of the most important western industrial nations is about dark issues of the present: about war, hunger, the climate crisis - and further punitive measures against Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. New sanctions, price caps for oil: This is how the anti-Putin summit is putting pressure on Moscow Among other things, the heads of state and government will discuss the possible introduction of a price cap on Russian oil. Because the Western sanctions are working and Russia is exporting less oil. However, due to the rise in prices, Moscow's revenues are still increasing. At the same time, economies and consumers worldwide are suffering. The G7 countries want to change that with an international price cap. They said they were well on the way to an agreement. The first consultations on Sunday then revolved around the situation in the global economy with skyrocketing energy prices, inflation and how to avert a recession. In addition to Germany and the USA, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Canada also belong to the G7 group, which demonstrated unity towards Russia at the start of the three-day talks. The seven most important democratic industrialized countries must stick together and tackle the upcoming tasks together, said US President Joe Biden yesterday when Scholz welcomed them. The Chancellor also emphasized the unity of the heads of state and government. But when new sanctions were imposed on Russia, Great Britain, the USA, Japan and Canada rushed ahead with an import ban on Russian gold before the summit began. Great Britain and the USA pointed out that gold is Russia's most important export commodity alongside oil and gas. By the end of the summit on Tuesday, it is expected that Germany and the other EU countries under the G7 will also join the gold sanctions. Measures against the global hunger crisis fueled by the war are also discussed in Elmau. Concrete promises of money are expected. According to the UN, the equivalent of 44 billion euros are needed to effectively contain the food crisis. So far, however, donor countries have only pledged about half, and only 20 percent have been made available. Chancellor Scholz's proposal to set up a "climate club" in which countries with high environmental goals coordinate their policies in order to prevent their companies from being disadvantaged on the world market will also be discussed at the meeting. And where the G7 heads of government meet, critics are not far: escorted by numerous emergency services, around 800 participants from the nearby protest camp in Garmisch-Partenkirchen gathered for the demo. Thousands had previously protested peacefully in Munich against the summit on Saturday. Four activists are still in custody for assaulting police officers.