The G-7 countries want to further restrict Russia's billion-dollar commodity trade. From the circle of leading democratic industrial nations, the USA, the EU and Great Britain announced new punitive measures shortly before the start of the summit meeting of the group of states in Hiroshima, Japan, this Friday.
The government in London wants to impose an import ban on Russian diamonds as well as copper, aluminum and nickel from Russia. According to Council President Charles Michel, the EU also wants to limit trade in Russian diamonds.
Among other things, the U.S. plans to cut off about 70 companies and organizations from Russia and other countries from U.S. exports, a government official in Hiroshima said. More than 300 people, companies and organizations, ships and aircraft want to impose different penalties on the United States. Britain also wants to punish 86 individuals and companies.
Zelensky is apparently expected in person in Japan
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will personally attend the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, according to the Financial Times. The paper cites insiders who are familiar with the preparations for the trip. According to the report, Zelensky will also be present at discussions at the summit on Sunday.
Russia's war against Ukraine is among the main topics of the meeting of the seven leading democratic industrialized nations, which lasts until Sunday. The G7 includes the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Canada, as well as the European Union.
An air raid alert was declared throughout Ukraine in the early hours of Friday morning. Explosions are said to have occurred in some areas. From official information from Kiev, it is said that anti-aircraft systems are already in service with several regions.
As the Ukrainian military announced via the Telegram messaging service, Russian aircraft are apparently in the air and there is a risk that all regions in Ukraine could be fired upon with Kinschal hypersonic missiles. The military also said that drone strikes could also occur in the central regions of the country.
Calculation errors in US aid to Ukraine
The U.S. Department of Defense has overstated the value of military aid to Ukraine from its own stocks by about three billion US dollars. The reason for this was a booking error, said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh. In some cases, the calculations were based on the replacement cost of the military equipment provided and not on its net value. This led to the overvaluation, Singh said. The discrepancies were noticed during a regular audit.
The Department of Defense had recently stated the total value of US military aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the war at more than 36.9 billion US dollars. This figure is now likely to be revised downwards. Employees and members of the U.S. Congress were informed on Thursday about the adjustments, U.S. media reported. The difference could enable the release of further weapons. Pentagon spokeswoman Singh stressed that the booking error in no way had a negative impact on American support for Ukraine.