G7 pledges to Ukraine to reduce dependence on Russian oil

Outside an American oil refinery in California. Washington is said to have sought to find alternative sources of oil and gas before banning goods from Russia – Photo: REUTERS

In a statement released after the meeting on May 8, the G7 group including the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan pledged to ban or not import oil from Russia “in an orderly manner”.

According to the newspaper New York Timesthis commitment shows the difficult position of industrial countries like G7 when standing between Russian oil and the peace of Ukraine.

In their joint statement on May 8, the G7 leaders did not directly acknowledge this dependence. Instead, they say, phasing out Russian oil is meant to ensure “a stable, sustainable, and affordable global energy supply for consumers”.

“Oil bans are a double-edged sword”, newspaper New York Times raise the problem. Oil is Russia’s top export, so Moscow will almost certainly suffer major economic losses if markets turn away from this commodity.

However, European countries are heavily dependent on oil and therefore are also vulnerable. The European Union, which receives about a quarter of its crude oil imports from Russia, has announced plans to phase out Russian oil and is still in talks to formalize the decision.

The EU is said to be too dependent on gas, so it still excludes the possibility of a short-term ban on gas imports. This is in contrast to the USwhich imports a relatively small amount of energy from Russia, boldly announced a ban on importing Russian oil and gas from early March.

Japan, a treaty ally of the US and has a territorial dispute with Russia, also decided to ban imports of Russian oil after a meeting on May 8.

In a statement released on the morning of May 9, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio said that Tokyo will gradually phase out Russian oil to ensure there is no disturbance to people’s lives.

“For a country that relies heavily on energy imports, it is a very difficult decision. But coordination with the G7 is the most important at a time like this,” Mr. Kishida said.

Russia accounts for about 3.6% of Japan’s total crude oil imports in 2021. The main supply of the world’s No. 3 economy is the Middle East countries, according to the News Agency. Kyodo News.

Prime Minister Kishida attends an online meeting with leaders of the G7, the European Union and Ukraine on May 8 – Photo: KYODO NEWS

Commitment to “pump” weapons to Ukraine

In a joint statement by G7 leaders, the group said it had assured Ukrainian President Zelensky that his country would continue to receive both short- and long-term financial and military support.

The G7 also pledged to continue to block Russia’s access to financial services to “reinforce Russia’s isolation across all aspects of the economy”, and to sanction supporters of Russia’s ruling elite as well as those of Russia. their family.

For his part, President Zelensky affirmed Ukraine’s strong determination to protect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He stated that Ukraine’s ultimate aim is to ensure that Russia withdraws all its forces and military equipment from the entire Ukrainian territory, wanting his country to have enough capacity to defend itself in the future.

The Ukrainian leader acknowledged that military capacity building currently relies on international partners, including the G7, and he thanked the countries for their help from the beginning of the war to the present.