ELMAU, Germany – The G-7 economic forces will ban the import of Russian gold in further tightening the strangulation that Western countries are seeking to impose in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden announced the plan, as G-7 leaders were due to arrive at Schloss Elmau, a luxury resort in the Bavarian Alps, for a summit where discussions of war and global economic consequences are expected to dominate.
“Together, the G7 will announce that we will ban the import of Russian gold, a major export that brings tens of billions of dollars to Russia,” Biden tweeted.
Western allies have imposed six rounds of criminal sanctions in response to the war, many of which are designed to destroy Russia’s largely profit-based economy. These include bans on Russian oil and extensive export controls aimed at denying Russia much-needed technology.
The Western Allies also sent arms and ammunition to Ukraine, although they refused to participate directly in the fighting.
Sanctions, albeit historic in scale and scope, have yet to deter Putin or force him to withdraw his armies, which now occupy large sections of southern and eastern Ukraine, including the so-called land bridge to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Russia invaded and annexed in 2014
Russian forces have failed in their attempt to seize Kyiv, the capital, and overthrow the Ukrainian government, but now they appear to intend to conquer and occupy the entire eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass.
In a statement, the UK government confirmed the move, saying: “The United Kingdom, the United States, Japan and Canada will force the G7 to ban imports of Russian gold, the country’s largest non-energy export.”
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