MUNSTER, Germany – Anthony Blinkenthe US Secretary of State and other senior diplomats from the Group of 7 Nations will meet on Thursday to address global crises, with particular attention to the Allied effort to support Ukraine against the Russian military invasion.
At two-day meetings in Münster, Germany, foreign ministers are expected to discuss food and energy problems resulting from the war, including the possible shortage of gas in Europe during the coming winter and the partial embargo on Russian oil that Europe plans to enact in early December, which could push oil prices further up on the world market .
The war did not go well for Russia, with territorial losses in southern and eastern Ukraine.
Moscow has resorted to long-range weapons to destroy power plants, lines, substations and other parts of Ukraine’s electricity grid, ostensibly with the aim of cutting Ukrainians’ electricity and water and eroding their will to fight.
Russia has also increased its influence on gas exports against Ukrainian supporters, including a recently announced cut in deliveries to neighboring Moldova, which resulted in a Russian-backed breakaway republic. Transnistriait will reduce the deliveries of the electricity it produces from Russian gas to the rest of the country.
The G-7 diplomatic meeting in Germany also plans to discuss a variety of other topics.
One is the role of Iran to help Russia.
The Iranian military has provided Russian forces with drones to use against Ukraine.
Another target will be the violent response of the security forces in Iran to the peaceful protests there.
Also scheduled are meetings on the presence of China in Europe and in the Indo-Pacific region, on stability in Central Asia and on problems in Africa.
The United States and its European and Asian allies have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia.
But they have been reluctant to completely cut off the main lifeblood of the Russian economy, oil and gas exports, due to the potential effect on world markets.
US and European officials fear that sweeping sanctions against Russian energy will lead to a global price increase.
To avoid this, officials are trying to come up with a complex maneuver:
set a ceiling on the price of oil at least among the G-7 nations.
This would mean that the countries continue to buy Russian oil but at a lower price they undertake to fix, essentially operating as a cartel of buyers.
At a meeting last month in Vienna of the OPEC Plus13 OPEC members plus 10 other oil-producing nations, Russian officials have threatened to withhold oil from any country that meets the price ceiling.
US officials fear millions of barrels of Russian oil could drain out of the market, inflating prices.
They say Saudi Arabia may choose to help the coalition against Russia by increasing oil production, but the Saudis have gone in the opposite direction, joining Russia at the lead of other OPEC Plus nations in announcing a major cut in production. at the October meeting.
Saudi officials oppose a cap, saying it would give buyers too much power.
However, some Riyadh officials have indicated that Saudi companies could increase production if global oil supplies dwindled.
Earlier this fall, the finance ministers of the G-7 nations signaled that their countries were ready to work together on a price cap mechanism.
And more recently, European officials have underlined their commitment, paving the way for discussions in Münster and a summit of European leaders. group of 20 in Bali, Indonesia, later this month.
“I am sure that our other G-7 partners, not just the European ones, will be eager to continue that discussion,” Howard Solomon, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasia at the Department of Europe, told reporters. US state. he calls on Tuesday.
The G-7 nations are Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Statesas well as theto the European Union.
Solomon added that G-7 officials will also discuss economic aid for Ukraine, including “humanitarian assistance, support for refugees and aid to Ukraine in terms of reconstruction”.
c.2022 The New York Times Company
Source: Clarin
