Hiroshima: On Friday, as President Joe Biden meets with other G7 leaders in Japan, the United States unveiled "significant" new sanctions aimed at Russia's "war machine."
The leaders of seven developed democracies are meeting in Hiroshima to discuss how to deal with China's rising military and economic might as well as how to tighten the screws on Russia's failing economy.
A senior US administration official announced Friday that "a significant effort will substantially restrict Russia's access to goods that are important for its battlefield capabilities."
"By adding them to the Commerce blacklist, it will prevent roughly 70 entities from Russia and other nations from receiving US exports. Additionally, there will be about 300 new sanctions against people, organisations, ships, and planes.
Other G7 nations are getting ready to "implement new sanctions and export controls," he continued. According to him, the bloc wants to stop Russian war supplies, close evasion gaps, and lessen its reliance on Russian energy.
As part of its commitment to keeping Russian assets frozen until the end of the conflict in Ukraine, it will also continue to restrict Moscow's access to the global financial system.
One potential topic for discussion, according to a European Union official on Thursday, was Russia's multi-billion dollar diamond industry. The official stated, "We believe we need to limit exports from Russian trade in this sector," adding that Indian support would be essential to the success of any new measures.
The bulk of the world's trade in rough diamonds comes from India.
Since the diamond industry is significant in India, we would like to have a conversation with them, the official said.
The G7 leaders will have the chance to speak with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi directly about their concerns. India has strong military ties with Russia and has so far refrained from denouncing Moscow's invasion.
In an effort to persuade nations that are sceptical of the bloc's position on both the conflict in Moscow and China's growing influence, Modi is one of several leaders from significant developing economies who have been invited to the summit.
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Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, is also scheduled to speak at the summit over the weekend via video link, despite Japan's government quashing rumours that he might show up in person at the last minute.
Following a visit to the memorials and museum in Hiroshima's Peace Park by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, talks will officially begin on Friday afternoon. They will place wreaths at the cenotaph in Hiroshima, which honours the roughly 140,000 people who died in the attack and its aftermath, in a highly symbolic act.
Kishida, a native of Hiroshima, has reportedly pushed for leaders to visit not only peace memorials but also the museum, where they can see proof of the suffering and devastation brought on by the bomb, in an effort to advance nuclear disarmament.
"I hope that here in Hiroshima, the G7 and leaders from elsewhere will show their commitment to peace, which will be remembered in history," he said on Thursday.
Although Moscow has made veiled threats to use the weapons, and North Korea is provoking fears of a new nuclear test with a barrage of missile launches, there is little appetite to reduce stockpiles at this time.
Biden will visit the city that was bombed by Washington at the end of World War Two, becoming only the second American leader to do so. However, unlike former president Barack Obama, Biden is not anticipated to offer an apology for the attack.
Masao Ito, now 82, survived the bombing when he was a young child. If given the chance, he declared that he would warn world leaders that "your city could become like Hiroshima as long as there are nuclear weapons in the world."
Is that genuinely a position you're willing to take? China will predominate the three days of meetings, aside from Ukraine.
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There, the emphasis will be on separating key supply chains from China and shielding certain industries from "economic coercion." However, European nations insist that maintaining ties with China, one of the biggest markets in the world, is still necessary.
According to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, "not a single country" is pursuing "decoupling," as he told reporters in Hiroshima. However, we want to structure international trade, investment, and supply relations so that reliance on specific nations does not increase risks, he said.