At a time when the U.S. President Joe Biden has enough going on at home, it is time for him to attend the G7 Summit, a summit of world leaders that precedes the NATO meeting next week in Madrid. One of the big topics at the G7 Summit this year, is no doubt going to be Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Held this year in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, the agenda this year is all about balance for these world leaders.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised costs around the globe, and will be a hot topic at this summit, where the leaders continue to try to put pressure on Russia. Ironically, banning Russian energy has been a driving force in the rising oil prices. The next step is to ban new imports of Russian gold.
“Here at this meeting of the G7, as well as at NATO, we will continue to do, collectively, everything we can to make sure that the Ukrainians have what they need in their hands to repel the Russian aggression,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an exclusive interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
In addition to banning gold, existing sanctions on oil will continue, and most of the world leaders are looking at Putin’s charge as a failure. Even the fact that NATO is meeting together in Madrid later this week is a slap in the face to Putin.
“When it comes to Putin’s strategic objectives, he’s already failed,” Blinken told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “We’re about to go to a NATO summit, where the alliance is going to show greater unity, greater strength than in my memory.
“Finding a balance between punishing Putin and keeping the world’s economy going is a key point of the summit. “A large focus of the G7 and the leaders are going to be, you know, how to not only manage the challenges in the global economy as a result of Mr. Putin’s war, but how to also continue to hold Mr. Putin accountable and to make sure that he is being subjected to costs and consequences for what he’s doing,” said John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communication at the National Security Council, as Biden was flying to Europe.
Biden asserts that teamwork is essential in dealing with Russia and other problems around the globe. “We have to stay together. Putin has been counting on from the beginning, that somehow NATO and the G7 would splinter, but we haven’t and we’re not going to,” Biden said.
Adnan Zai, an Advisor to Berkeley Capital said, “Given that the Biden administration has done very little in terms of moving the foreign policy needle beyond the Ukraine conflict, they need to act now. There are many regions that need attention such as the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Iran, China to name a few.”