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Group of 7 Condemns Its Absent Partner, Russia Obama Warns an Absent Russia of Broader Sanctions
(about 2 hours later)
BRUSSELS — The leaders of seven major powers on Thursday convened their first summit meeting without Russia in two decades, a stark reflection of the international strains brought on by the crisis in Ukraine. BRUSSELS — President Obama said on Thursday that Russia had about a month to reverse its intervention in Ukraine and rein in the pro-Russian separatist uprising there, or else it would face broader international sanctions aimed at whole sectors of the Russian economy.
President Obama joined his peers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan at the headquarters of the European Council here to discuss energy, development, climate change and economic matters. They met under the name Group of 7, rather than Group of 8, for the first time since the mid-1990s. And along the way, they discussed the member they have kicked out of their club, at least for now. Emerging from a summit meeting in Brussels with the leaders of six other major democracies, Mr. Obama said that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia should recognize and negotiate directly with the newly elected president of Ukraine, Petro O. Poroshenko. Mr. Obama also called on Mr. Putin to stop the flow of fighters and arms across the Russia-Ukraine border and to use Russia’s influence to press the separatists to disarm and relinquish the government buildings they have seized in eastern Ukraine.
After a long dinner Wednesday night in advance of the formal meeting, the seven leaders released a joint statement repeating their condemnation of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and calling on Moscow to use its influence to stop the pro-Russian separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine. They were less clear about their own intended actions. “Russia continues to have a responsibility to convince them to end their violence, lay down their weapons and enter into a dialogue with the Ukrainian government,” Mr. Obama said at a news conference alongside Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, after a meeting of leaders of the Group of 7 industrial powers. “On the other hand, if Russia’s provocations continue, it’s clear from our discussions here that the G-7 nations are ready to impose additional costs on Russia.”
“We are united in condemning the Russian Federation’s continuing violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” the joint statement said. “Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, and actions to destabilize eastern Ukraine are unacceptable and must stop. These actions violate fundamental principles of international law and should be a concern for all nations.” For the first time, Mr. Obama laid out a time frame, saying that the process could not drag out. “We will have a chance to see what Mr. Putin does over the next two, three, four weeks,” Mr. Obama said, “and if he remains on the current course, then we’ve already indicated what kinds of actions that we’re prepared to take.”
The statement went on to say: “We urge the Russian Federation to recognize the results of the election, complete the withdrawal of its military forces on the border with Ukraine, stop the flow of weapons and militants across the border and to exercise its influence among armed separatists to lay down their weapons and renounce violence.” Mr. Cameron echoed the message. “The status quo is unacceptable,” he said. “The continuing destabilization of eastern Ukraine must stop.” After he listed actions Russia must take, he said, “If these things don’t happen, then sectoral sanctions must follow.”
The statement threatened further steps in response to Russian provocation, but in vague terms, reflecting a disagreement among the seven over how to proceed. “We stand ready to intensify targeted sanctions and to implement significant additional restrictive measures to impose further costs on Russia should events so require,” it said. So far, the United States and the European Union have imposed only limited sanctions, aimed at individual Russians and a handful of companies associated with them, in retaliation for the Russian annexation of Crimea and the violence in eastern Ukraine. The next stage of sanctions mentioned by Mr. Cameron would be broader, cutting off dealings with Russian businesses and institutions in industries like finance, energy or minerals.
And while the group agreed to suspend Russia, which was originally supposed to host this year’s summit meeting in Sochi, three of the seven leaders — President François Hollande of France, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain — went ahead and scheduled separate meetings with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Mr. Hollande, in fact, will host Mr. Putin for a light supper in Paris on Thursday night, just after he takes Mr. Obama to dinner at a Paris restaurant. European leaders have resisted such an escalation at least in part because their countries have much deeper economic ties to Russia than the United States does, and their companies have a lot to lose financially. Germany receives about one-third of its natural gas from Russia; Britain has extensive banking ties there, and France does a thriving arms business with the country.
These summit meetings trace their history to 1975, when leaders of the major industrial democracies — United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — inaugurated the Group of 6 to discuss the pressing economic issues of the day. Canada joined two years later, making it the Group of 7, and the European Commission has attended the meetings as an observer since then. But it is a club with no actual organization, just a rotation of host countries, and over time the agenda broadened well beyond economics to cover all sorts of global issues. Mr. Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany threatened to impose sectoral sanctions if Russia disrupted the May 25 election in Ukraine that chose Mr. Poroshenko. Pro-Russian separatists worked to stop the voting in the east, but elsewhere the election went ahead, and the United States and European leaders chose not to see the problems in the east as grave enough to merit following through on the threat.
Boris Yeltsin began attending the summit meetings as Russia's president in 1993, seeking help for his country as it emerged from the Soviet Union and the Cold War. By 1994, he was being described as a "participant," and in 1997, when President Bill Clinton was trying to anchor Russia in the international order, he included Mr. Yeltsin in nearly all of the group’s meetings, held that year in Denver. Russia was officially inducted as the eighth member in 1998; its first turn to host a summit meeting came in 2006, when Mr. Putin brought his counterparts to a gleaming palace he had restored outside St. Petersburg. It remained unclear what the West would do if Russia left matters as they were, neither escalating the situation nor reining in the separatists. France has said it intends to go ahead with a $1.6 billion sale of warships to Russia; Mr. Obama took issue with that decision again on Thursday, before leaving Brussels for Paris to dine with President François Hollande of France.
The group’s summit meeting in Brussels was the first in two decades to exclude Russia, which has been suspended from what had been the Group of 8. Even so, Mr. Hollande, Mr. Cameron and Ms. Merkel all scheduled individual meetings with Mr. Putin; Mr. Hollande, in fact, will host Mr. Putin for a light supper just after his dinner with Mr. Obama.
Mr. Cameron defended meeting separately with Mr. Putin. “I think it’s right to have this dialogue, particularly if you have a clear message and a clear point to make,” he said. “I think there’s a world of difference between having a dialogue with President Putin and excluding someone” from the summit meeting.
Mr. Obama skated lightly over the disparate decisions. “Do I expect unanimity among the 28 E.U. members?” he asked. “I’ve now been president five and a half years, and I’ve learned a thing or two about the European Union.” With 28 members, there would be disagreements, he said, and “we take that for granted.”
And Mr. Obama said he was sensitive to why some European leaders might be reluctant to cut back ties with Russia. “If in fact we do have to move to sectoral sanctions, it’s important to take individual countries’ sensitivities in mind and make sure that everybody is bearing their fair share,” he said.
Mr. Obama and Mr. Cameron insisted that the allies remained united in the face of Russia’s actions. “I’ve been heartened by the steadfastness of Europe thus far,” Mr. Obama said.
These summit meetings trace their history to 1975, when leaders of the major industrial democracies — United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — inaugurated the Group of 6 to discuss the pressing economic issues of the day. Canada joined a year later, making it the Group of 7, and the European Commission has attended the meetings as an observer nearly since the start. But it is a club with no actual organization, just a rotation of host countries, and over time the agenda broadened well beyond economics to cover all sorts of global issues.
Boris Yeltsin began attending the summit meetings as Russia’s president in 1993, seeking help for his country as it emerged from the Soviet Union and the Cold War. By 1994, he was being described as a “participant,” and in 1997, when President Bill Clinton was trying to anchor Russia in the international order, he included Mr. Yeltsin in nearly all of the group’s meetings, held that year in Denver. Russia was officially inducted as the eighth member in 1998; its first turn to host a summit meeting came in 2006, when Mr. Putin brought his counterparts to a gleaming palace he had restored outside St. Petersburg.
More recently, leaders of countries like China, Brazil and Mexico began attending as observers, to the point that at the 2009 summit meeting in Italy, the first one that Mr. Obama attended, 40 countries were represented, accounting for 90 percent of the world economy. The Italians spent $75 million to create an Olympic-style village for the meeting, and 3,700 journalists were on hand.More recently, leaders of countries like China, Brazil and Mexico began attending as observers, to the point that at the 2009 summit meeting in Italy, the first one that Mr. Obama attended, 40 countries were represented, accounting for 90 percent of the world economy. The Italians spent $75 million to create an Olympic-style village for the meeting, and 3,700 journalists were on hand.
Mr. Obama, who is not a fan of big multilateral meetings, has tried shifting emphasis away from the Group of 8, on the theory that it would be better to focus on the newly assertive and more inclusive Group of 20, which includes a broader range of countries. But instead of absorbing or replacing the Group of 8 meetings, the Group of 20 merely added another international summit meeting to the president’s annual schedule of obligatory trips. Mr. Obama, who is not a fan of big multilateral meetings, has tried to shift emphasis away from the Group of 8, on the theory that it would be better to focus on the newly assertive and more inclusive Group of 20, which includes a broader range of countries. But instead of absorbing or replacing the Group of 8 meetings, the Group of 20 merely added another international summit meeting to the president’s annual schedule of obligatory trips.
The rupture over Ukraine transformed this year’s meeting. The usual observers and hangers-on are absent, and so is any overarching joint project. The leaders are using existing facilities, and the agenda, while ostensibly covering issues like energy and climate, boiled down to the question of their suspended partner, and what to do about Ukraine. The rupture over Ukraine transformed this year’s meeting. The usual observers and hangers-on were absent, and so was any overarching joint project. The leaders were using existing facilities, and the agenda, while ostensibly covering issues like energy and climate, boiled down to the question of their suspended partner, and what to do about Ukraine.