Help Ukraine and yourself. What Did Western Leaders Decide at the NATO, EU and G7 Summits?

On March 24, Brussels hosted three summits simultaneously – NATO, EU and G7. All day they took place in the Belgian capital, the leaders of Western countries tried to cover the entire current agenda – from the Ukrainian conflict to the food crisis.

Ukraine

One of the key issues in all three events was, as expected, the crisis in Ukraine. The President of this country, Volodymyr Zelensky, spoke at the G7 and NATO summits. In his speech to the G7 countries, he called for new sanctions on Russia every week.

“We need a complete embargo on trade with Russia, we must deprive it of the ability to use GPS … Russian banks must take a complete blockade of the global financial system,” said Zelensky.

In addition, he urged the G7 to participate in the creation of a new system of security guarantees for Ukraine.

Zelensky also urged Ukraine to provide arms and take part in the country’s rebuilding. In his speech at the NATO summit, he said that Kiev needed military support without restrictions. The President of Ukraine believes that the alliance can supply Kiev with 1% of all its tanks and planes.

The Ukrainian leader recalled that the country applied to the organization for warplanes and tanks on both a refundable and non-refundable basis, but did not give it “at all”.

“This is the worst thing during the war, not getting clear answers to requests for help,” Zelensky said.

After the NATO summit in Brussels, French President Emmanuel Macron assured that Europe will continue to provide economic, military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

He also reminded that more than 3.5 million refugees from Ukraine are already in Europe.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz assured that the G7 would use all its strength as a leading developed country to encourage Russia to seek a diplomatic solution. He reminded that all partners in the G7 have adopted comprehensive sanctions packages and are committed to the careful implementation of sanctions measures. They work according to him and they will show their effect in a short time.

The Ukraine issue was also brought up at a press conference organized by US President Joe Biden. According to him, it is unlikely that Ukraine will give up part of its territory to resolve the situation, but it is entirely dependent on it – “Nothing about Ukraine without the participation of Ukraine.”

Russia

Biden devoted a significant part of his speech to Russia. Specifically, he said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to break up NATO. According to the American leader, this was the intention of the President of the Russian Federation from the very beginning.

He also warned that the United States and NATO allies would “retaliate” if Russia decides to use chemical weapons in Ukraine. Biden stated that the nature of the response will depend on the nature of the application.

One of his most important statements was his support for the exclusion of Russia from the G20.

Biden also offered to give Ukraine the opportunity to attend G20 meetings if Russia could not be excluded from the organization.

“If Indonesia and others cannot agree (with the idea of ​​expelling the Russian Federation from the G20 – socialbites.ca), then I think we should ask Ukraine to participate in the G20 meetings and become a country. observer,” he said.

gas for ruble

Many representatives of the European Union also talked about a particularly controversial issue – the purchase of Russian gas by the European Union for rubles, which Vladimir Putin announced the day before. Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said that Europe will not pay for Russian gas in rubles.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi described Russia’s decision to switch to the ruble in gas supply payments as a breach of contract.

“If this article is put forward by Russia, the contracts will be deemed to have been violated,” he said before the summit of EU leaders.

Scholz also reminded that gas supply contracts provide payment in dollars or euros.

At the same time, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo tried to take advantage of Russia’s proposal. He expressed the view that the revision of the currency in gas contracts means that energy prices can also be reviewed. “The most important thing for me is that the prices are going down. “The prices today are completely out of touch with reality, and I am pleased that the European Commission has made recommendations, including curbing gas prices,” he said.

At the same time, Alexander de Croo said that the EU does not support a complete rejection of oil and gas from Russia, because the main principle followed by the European Commission is that the sanctions should have big consequences for Russia, not for Europe.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, announced a new partnership between the European Union and the United States, which in turn includes the additional supply of American liquefied natural gas to the EU, against the conditions put forward by Russia. for Russian.

“Tomorrow, we will open a new page in our energy partnership with President Biden. We are talking about additional LNG from the USA for the European Union, which will replace the Russian LNG we have so far,” he said.

food crisis

Joe Biden noted that events in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia could trigger a global deficit.

“We talked about food shortages, and it’s real. “Not only Russia, but also many other countries, including European countries, are paying the price for the sanctions,” he said.

According to him, the United States and Canada are ready to help minimize the consequences of the crisis on food security.

The President of France took the initiative to develop an emergency plan to mitigate the food crisis that the world may be facing against the background of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. He called for an emergency plan to use food stocks in the event of a crisis to avoid shortages and curb rising prices. Macron also pointed out that a multilateral agreement should be reached not to restrict the supply of agricultural raw materials.

He reminded that the Russian Federation and Ukraine are the largest grain suppliers and many countries in Africa and the Middle East are very dependent on these grain sources from Russia and Ukraine. “And in the short term there will be difficulties in these countries… After 12-18 months, the situation will become more serious,” said the president of the French Republic.