G7 leaders agree to increase sanctions on Russian energy

{"text":[[{"start":10.25,"text":"The leaders of the G7 countries have agreed to “increase pressure” on Russia, including with new sanctions on oil and gas exports, in an effort to choke off money fuelling Vladimir Putin’s war efforts."}],[{"start":22.5,"text":"A French diplomatic source said on Tuesday that the consensus position had been reached among the club of wealthy nations after a round of talks at which Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also present. The UK and Canada also announced new sanctions."}],[{"start":38.5,"text":"French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting the leaders, including US President Donald Trump, in the alpine resort of Évian-les-Bains until Wednesday."}],[{"start":47.05,"text":"“Leaders agree to increase pressure on Russia, notably through sanctions on oil and gas,” the French source said after a session devoted to Ukraine."}],[{"start":55.8,"text":"The conflict in the Middle East has been overshadowing the situation in Ukraine in recent months so G7 leaders at the summit have sought to re-engage Trump on helping Kyiv now that a deal extending a ceasefire with Tehran is close to being signed. "}],[{"start":70.14999999999999,"text":"Kyiv has called for intensified pressure on Moscow as Russia has become bogged down at the front line, prompting Putin’s army to intensify long-range missile and drone strikes."}],[{"start":80.3,"text":"“Now that this is finished, we are going to be focusing on that and see if we can get that one done,” Trump said on Monday in reference to Iran and Ukraine."}],[{"start":89.2,"text":"The US president signalled that he too was prepared to put pressure on Russian energy exports, without giving details of how. "}],[{"start":97.75,"text":"The US issued a series of waivers for Russian seaborne oil and petroleum products during the war against Iran in a bid to ease pressure on global energy prices. Although Washington has previously extended the waivers, they are again due to lapse in the coming days. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":113,"text":"After an exchange this morning, Trump and Zelenskyy are expected to meet one-on-one later during the G7 summit."}],[{"start":121.1,"text":"Zelenskyy said in an audio statement shared with reporters after the meetings: “First and foremost, Putin does not want to end the war, but he must be forced to do so, primarily through sanctions. All countries spoke about this.”"}],[{"start":134.1,"text":"Canada and the UK also said in statements that they were increasing sanctions on Russia’s shadow fleet of ships that carry oil and gas exports to get around sanctions. "}],[{"start":144.6,"text":"UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told reporters that there was “unity in the room” about the idea that Ukraine was making battlefield progress and that sanctions against Russia were working. There was “a real sense that now is the moment for all of us as a G7 to ramp up the pressure, and obviously you’ll have seen this morning we’ve put on even further sanctions in relation to Russia,” he said."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":167.75,"text":"On Monday, the UK said in a statement that it would target Russia’s shadow fleet, including multiple vessels moving sanctioned Russian liquefied natural gas. The UK also plans to impose new measures to “expose and target” a Russian military intelligence (GRU) network linked to a company called Neptune that it said was “covertly procuring western technology for Russia’s military”."}],[{"start":191.5,"text":"The French diplomatic source said the fact that the US and Iran’s peace deal was already helping to bring down oil and gas prices globally made it easier to achieve consensus on sanctioning Russian energy exports."}],[{"start":205.05,"text":"Another way the G7 countries could pledge to help Ukraine would be by boosting its air-defence systems, the French source said. Zelenskyy has been seeking a licence from the US to produce Patriot interceptor missiles in Ukraine, arguing that the country was vulnerable to long-range ballistic missile strikes from Russia."}],[{"start":223,"text":"Ukrainian officials have told the FT that US supplies of Patriot interceptors are too few and arriving too slowly, leading to more direct Russian strikes on critical and civilian infrastructure. Zelenskyy said he discussed this with Trump and their teams “will continue working” on the matter. "}],[{"start":239.3,"text":"Additional reporting by Christopher Miller and Fabrice Deprez"}],[{"start":250.10000000000002,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1781661547_7145.mp3"}