EU’s G7 agenda Ukraine, sanctions and China
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel, at a press conference in Brussels, at the European Council Summit in Iceland on 16-17 May, the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Japan on 19-21 May, and the G7 Leaders’ Summit on 22 May. He made evaluations about the EU-South Korea Summit programs in South Korea.
Ursula von der Leyen said that at the G7 Summit, Ukraine will be one of the main agenda items, the will to support Ukraine until the end will be confirmed, and they will discuss the acceleration of military support as well as financial support.
Emphasizing that the peace formula of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy should be the basis for the possible peace process to be carried out to end the Ukraine-Russia war, von der Leyen stated that there will be no peace initiative for Ukraine without Ukraine’s consent.
Referring to the Council of Europe Summit to be held in Iceland, von der Leyen stated that the issue of holding Russia to account would be on the agenda.
Von der Leyen noted that they will discuss the creation of a “Damage Register” mechanism in The Hague, Netherlands, in order to establish the first step of Russia’s future reparations to Ukraine.
New sanctions
Von der Leyen said, “We will evaluate both current and future sanctions at the G7,” and reminded that the EU Commission has submitted the 11th sanctions package proposal to the member states.
Von der Leyen stated that the new package was prepared in coordination with the G7 partners and mainly focused on sanctions and preventing the breach of sanctions.
Pointing out that the new sanctions package includes a ban that will “close the gaps” in the sanctions, von der Leyen said, “We saw a large increase in the trade of some 3rd countries in European products last month.” said.
Von der Leyen pointed out that they were discussing deterrent measures in this regard and said that a transit ban might be in question.
Von der Leyen stated that they will take measures against third countries that purchase advanced technology, aircraft components and jet fuels from the EU and may then deliver the sanctioned goods to Russia, adding that they are serious about banning these goods from going to these third countries. stressed that they warned these countries about the issue.
relations with China
Emphasizing that the issue of how to manage relations with China will be among the main topics at the summits, von der Leyen stated that the leaders will meet on common principles here.
“We want a multi-faceted approach in our economic relations with China that will be defined by risk reduction rather than divergence,” von der Leyen said.
Expressing that they will try to cooperate with China on global issues such as climate change, von der Leyen noted that they are in competition with China and they want to strengthen their own economic situation.
Von der Leyen, pointing out that they learned their lessons from the problems posed by energy dependency last year, said, “We will reduce strategic dependencies.”
Von der Leyen stated that they will protect the technologies that will provide advantages in new generation military technologies and emphasized that they attach great importance to economic security.
Preparing an economic security strategy
Von der Leyen stated that they have taken very serious steps to increase economic resilience, that they need to further reduce dependency on critical raw materials, and that the EU Commission will announce a new economic security strategy in June.
Von der Leyen stated that clean technology investments will also be on the agenda at the meetings, adding that the common goal should be to increase clean technology capacities, but this should not be done at the expense of others.
