Elmau, June 28, 2022 – Per Mario Draghi il G7 in Elmau, in Germania “It was a success, there was great cohesion and unity of views, especially on Ukraine”. The prime minister speaks at a press conference at the end of the proceedings: “We told President Zelensky that we are ready to support Ukraine for as long as necessary”, he remarked. Yellow on Putin’s possible presence at the G20, as feared yesterday by the Russian leader’s foreign policy advisor at TASS. “The Indonesian president excludes him, he was categorical, he won’t come. A remote intervention could happen, we’ll see …”. The tsar is today in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, his first trip since the war.
Summary
On the table of the G7 various economic issues, mainly linked to the energy crisis. “All leaders agree on the need to limit funding to Putin, but also to remove the cause of inflation,” explains Draghi. “We have urgently mandated ministers on how to apply a price cap on gas and oil. The EU will accelerate its work on the gas price ceiling, a decision we welcome.”
And again: “We hope” a result on the gas price cap before October, says Draghi. “It is important that the discussion be solid, on a rational basis and not just a psychological one. This does not mean that psychology is not rational …”.
On the next Russian moves: “For now it is difficult to understand what Moscow will do with gas, let’s go ahead trying to prepare ourselves, increasing stocks and investments in renewables and also long-term investments in renewables in developing countries”.
The permier does not hold back on the issue of sanctions in Moscow. “On this front we have reaffirmed our commitment”. For Draghi, the sanctions issue is “essential to bring Russia back to the negotiating table”.
“UN Secretary General” Guterres “on the” wheat “plan used the words ‘we are now close to the moment of truth’ to understand whether Ukraine and Russia will want to sign an agreement that will allow wheat to leave ports “. For Draghi “the situation must be cleared quickly to store the new harvest”.
“Overall there is good news” on the export of wheat from Ukraine, clarifies the prime minister. “Many of us, if not all of us thought that it was necessary to de-mine the ports, but now it seems there are, indeed there are safe corridors through which to pass ships, this means saving time”.
The premier does not shy away from another ‘hot’ issue of the moment, namely the climate. He reveals that the president of Senegal and the African Union, Macky Sall, told the G7 that “30% of the world population lives in Africa and contributes only 3% to global emissions”. Sall added that “if Africa used all the fossil fuels it has, it would reach 3.4%”. According to Draghi “these are only estimates but we understand that the weight of these measures to save the climate falls disproportionately on Africa and poorer countries”.
The issues also include that of the neutral countries between Russia and Ukraine. “They have not yet been approached,” explains Draghi. “And in the discussion that took place we immediately saw how there was a desire to be involved”, he adds. Then he quotes an African proverb: “Some of these countries are poor. I always think of an African proverb that was quoted in the mid-1980s when I was at the World Bank: when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. Countries feel grass suffer, and it’s hard to ask them to take part. “
A crucial NATO summit is scheduled for tomorrow and Thursday in Madrid. “We expect the reaffirmation of this sense of unity and firmness of the G7 and then probably an extension of NATO to Sweden and Finland,” said Draghi. “The effects of this war are unpredictable, we end up with a more united EU, a more united and probably larger NATO”, he adds. Countries “are seeking protection and rearmament. Things did not go as Putin would have liked”.
Even if, the premier admits, there is “concern” for “constant progress” in the last two weeks of Russian forces on the ground in Ukraine. But this “does not mean that our support for Kiev will not continue”, assured the premier.