ELMAU CASTLE, GERMANY // The leaders of Germany and the United States hammered home a tough line on Russia on Sunday at the start of a G7 summit dominated by crises in Ukraine and Greece.
US president Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that western sanctions must remain in place against Russia until it complies with a ceasefire deal with Ukraine.
“The two leaders ... agreed that the duration of sanctions should be clearly linked to Russia’s full implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty,” the White House said, referring to a ceasefire deal struck in the Belarus capital.
Peace talks on Ukraine resumed in Minsk on May 6 as clashes have intensified on the ground in a conflict that has killed more than 6,400 people since April 2014.
Ms Merkel treated Mr Obama to some traditional Bavarian beer garden hospitality, with frothy ale, pretzels and oompah brass music played by locals in lederhosen.
But after the smiles in the sunshine, both leaders issued a stark warning to president Vladimir Putin over what Mr Obama said was his “aggression” in Ukraine.
The United States, the EU and Germany all expressed alarm over the renewed violence in eastern Ukraine, with Washington warning Moscow it would face new punishment if the crisis escalates.
EU president Donald Tusk, who also attending the meeting at the heavily guarded Elmau Castle retreat, said he wanted to “reconfirm G7 unity on sanctions policy” against Russia, which he said would stay out of the G7 “community of values” as long as “it behaves aggressively with Ukraine and other countries”.
Diplomats said on Friday that EU leaders meeting in Brussels this month were set to extend sanctions on Russia over its involvement in the fighting in Ukraine until the end of 2015.
The leaders of Japan and Canada visited Kiev on Saturday on their way to Germany to voice support for Ukraine’s embattled leaders, as government troops again traded fire with pro-Russian rebels in the east.
A key G7 issue would be “standing up to Russian aggression in Ukraine”, Mr Obama said ahead of talks with Britain’s David Cameron, France’s Francois Hollande, Italy’s Matteo Renzi, Canada’s Stephen Harper and Japan’s Shinzo Abe.
A recent flare-up in fighting in east Ukraine has killed at least 28 people and sparked fears that the escalation will derail the hard-won ceasefire brokered by France and Germany four months ago.
Without naming crisis-hit Greece, Mr Obama also pointed at the EU’s ongoing troubles with debt-hit Athens, mentioning as the top summit issues “the global economy that creates jobs and opportunity” and “maintaining a strong and prosperous European Union”.
The Greek crisis threatened to overshadow the G7 summit, which Ms Merkel has hoped would focus on other pressing global issues – from climate change and extremism to women’s rights, public health initiatives and the fight against poverty.
Instead, the event threatens to be overshadowed by two leaders who are absent, said the Munich daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung, referring to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Mr Putin.
A day after thousands protested against the G7 in largely peaceful rallies, a handful of protesters staged a sit-in on Sunday to block the main access road to the castle, resulting in journalists being transported by helicopter to the location.
The protesters said they had managed to sneak through the woods unnoticed by police, despite the presence of over 22,000 officers who set up a ring of steel around the summit venue.
* Agence France-Presse
