The escalating conflict in Ukraine and the G7’s policy on Russia were the top issues on the agenda of the summit, held behind closed doors in the remote Elmau castle in Bavaria. In the run-up to the summit, Kiev violated the ceasefire by attacking civilian areas in the rebel-held east, likely in an attempt to generate Western attention before the meeting.
As the two-day summit commenced, the seven leaders unilaterally condemned what they described as alleged ‘Russian aggression’, and vowed that the sanctions will remain in place, despite the economic whiplash they’re having on some of them.
It now seems the days are gone when the West and Russia could speak on an equal footing, and the G7 appears primed to become a yearly Russia-bashing event.
Vladimir Sotnikov, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for International Security, Institute of World Economy and International Relations (studio guest), Thomas Seifert, Editor in Chief, Wiener Zeitung paper (Vienna) and Pavel Palaschenko, expert at the Gorbachev foundation, former diplomat and personal translator to Mikhail Gorbachev, commented on the issue.
