G7 leaders face Ukraine’s Hiroshima legacy. At a Group of Seven (G7) conference in Hiroshima, Japan, leaders of the world’s advanced democracies were prepared to unleash new sanctions against Russia.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other leaders from the G7-rich nations—the US, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, and Canada—were scheduled to visit the peace memorial in the city flattened by an atomic bomb in World War Two. Later, the leaders will discuss strategies for a more than year-long conflict.
In solidarity with Ukraine, the U.K. will boycott Russian diamonds and metals like copper, aluminum, and nickel.
Britain also targets 86 people and firms from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military-industrial complex and oil, metallurgy, and shipping companies.
On Friday, European Council President Charles Michel announced restrictions on the Russian diamond trade.
The leaders met in Hiroshima’s peace memorial park on a rainy, dismal day to commemorate the first city to be bombed by a nuclear weapon.
According to four nations, officials still discussed Russia’s final notification and China’s precise terminology.
Moscow says it will use nuclear weapons to defend its “territorial integrity” if necessary. Hiroshima’s lower house representative, Kishida, chose the city for the summit to highlight arms control.
“You will hear a powerful statement of unity, strength, and commitment in our response to Russia’s war of aggression,” said a senior U.S. administration official. “You will see new steps taken to economically isolate Russia and weaken its ability to wage war.”
The individual said the U.S. would add 70 entities to its export blocklist and expand its sanctions jurisdiction to 300 entities and other Russian sectors.
The goal is to remove evasion loopholes in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, targeting Russia’s wartime supplies, limiting energy dependence, and cutting Moscow’s access to the international banking system.
