Arthur de Laborde, edited by Romain Rouillard
modified to
2:39 p.m., June 27, 2022
The leaders of the world’s greatest powers are currently in Germany where they are taking part in a G7 partly devoted to the war in Ukraine. New sanctions against the Russian economy were discussed and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Heads of State.
On the second day of the G7 summit at Elmau Castle in Germany, a new component of sanctions against Russia was discussed between the various leaders of the greatest world powers. Joe Biden, the President of the United States, and Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, have already promised an embargo on Russian gold, in reaction to the war waged by Moscow on Ukrainian soil.
A way of uniting behind Ukraine and its president Volodymyr Zelensky who also spoke mid-morning to the heads of state of the G7. He first alerted them to the deterioration of the situation on the ground, the day after new bombardments on kyiv, citing alarming figures. On the day of Sunday, according to him, 62 Russian missiles were fired in Ukraine while they were so far only 15 per day on average.
22 million tonnes of grain blocked in Ukrainian silos
In total, still according to the Ukrainian president, 3,800 Russian missiles have been fired since the start of the war. Volodymyr Zelensky therefore called on the G7 leaders to step up defense aid and increase arms deliveries. He also expressed concern about the consequences of the conflict in terms of food security, stressing the need to unblock the country’s agricultural exports as soon as possible.
According to the UN, 22 million tonnes of grain are currently in silos in Ukraine. However, it is urgent to make room for the next harvest, in other words to take out the grain and find storage capacity. The Ukrainian president also renewed his call to step up sanctions against Russia.
In conclusion, a little over four months after the start of the conflict, Volodymyr Zelensky explained that absolutely everything had to be done to ensure that the war was over by the end of the year. He fears a particularly harsh winter during which the positions will be frozen, which risks making the fighting even more difficult.