The Obama administration wants to use this weekend’s meeting of world leaders in Krün, Germany to “review” the West’s economic sanctions against Russia for its continued aggression against Ukraine.
“It’s very important coming out of these G-7 meetings that the world is seen as speaking with one voice in support of those important consequences that have been imposed on Russia, and to demonstrate that Russia will continue to face those sanctions until a diplomatic solution is fully implemented,” Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, told reporters Thursday.
“[I]t’s important for Russia to understand that should it continue to have further escalation in Ukraine, it could be faced with additional consequences,” he added.
Last year, Russia was expelled from the Group of Seven, which was the Group of Eight, for violating the former Soviet republic’s sovereignty. The European Council that imposed European-wide financial penalties against Russia meets at month’s end to discuss their expiration.
“[T]his is a time for the president to have a meeting of the minds with several very important European leaders heading into those meetings,” Rhodes said. “Again, that’s maintaining the very strong sanctions that we’ve put in place together with Europe.”
Although Russian-backed separatists just launched a new offensive in eastern Ukraine, Rhodes declined to say what more the West will do in response.
“I think it’s important to indicate going forward that if we see additional Russian aggression, we have additional tools in our own arsenal that could be deployed if we see an escalation of Russian and separatist activity,” Rhodes said.
Other expected agenda items, according to Rhodes, are the international fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ongoing nuclear talks with Iran, pending multinational trade deals, upcoming climate change talks, women’s empowerment and global health.
This “is an opportunity for the leaders of some of the key coalition countries to sit down with [Iraqi] Prime Minister [Haider al-] Abadi to affirm the importance of continuing our efforts to degrade ISIL through our air campaign inside of Iraq, but also through our efforts to reinforce and train and equip Iraqi security forces as they seek to reclaim territory taken by ISIL, and ultimately to degrade and push ISIL out of territory that it has taken inside of Iraq,” Rhodes said, using the administration’s preferred acronym for the radical Islamic terrorist group.
On the climate front, Charles Kupchan, the National Security Council’s senior director for European affairs, said the G-7 meeting will set the scene for the United Nations Climate Change Conference slated to start in November in Paris.
Kupchan said the gathered leaders can discuss their efforts to combat climate change as well as ways to support each other’s targets. Additionally, side meetings with key African leaders, such as the head of the African Union, should bear fruit, he said.
They can discuss supporting “the kind of clean energy changes that Africa needs in order to secure power access for its people without damaging the environment,” Kupchan said.
As for President Obama’s schedule for the two-day meeting, he arrives in Krün on Sunday and immediately attends a public event with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The two will then privately discuss the G-7 agenda, Rhodes said, “to make sure that we are closely aligned, as we always are, heading into the various meetings.”
Obama will also meet privately with British Prime Minister David Cameron and alone with al-Abadi. In addition to bilateral meetings with one another, the G-7 leaders collectively will meet with al-Abadi, Nigeria’s newly elected president, Muhammadu Buhari, and Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi.
