Will Russia return to the G7 round?

Foreign Minister Baerbock makes a clear statement

Created: 12/30/2021, 07:55 AM

From: Andreas Schmid

Annalena Baerbock and Vladimir Putin: Germany's Foreign Minister has positioned herself to resume the G8 round.

© OLIVIER DOULIERY / ITAR-TASS / AFP / Imago

Relations between Russia and the West are strained.

According to Baerbock, due to the “current escalation”, it is not foreseeable when Russia will return to the G7 round.

Berlin - Climate protection, strengthening democracies, fighting pandemics: these will be the top topics of the German G7 presidency in 2022.

Guests will again be invited to the summit of the leading western economic powers and to the meetings of foreign ministers.

One country is certainly not included.

Baerbock: Russia's return in the G7 round is not in sight

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock believes that Russia's return to the G7 is not foreseeable at the moment.

The largest country in the world in terms of area has disqualified itself.

"It is of course very painful that Russia has excluded itself from this circle by annexing Crimea," said the Green politician to the German press agency, referring to Moscow's actions on the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula in 2014.

After a controversial procedure that has not yet been internationally recognized, Russian President Vladimir Putin incorporated Crimea into the Russian Federation. Until the annexation of Crimea by Russia, the confederation was considered the G8, then Russia was excluded because of the annexation. Baerbock also praises this step seven years after the annexation: "It was right, after Russia's aggressive actions in 2014, to make it clear that one cannot simply continue the economic policy agenda on this basis."

According to Baerbock, it is currently "not foreseeable when Russia will be able to return to the round - the current escalation is not making the situation any easier".

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine had recently come to a head again.

The West accuses Russia of a massive deployment of troops on the border with Ukraine. 

G7: Current member states and their heads of government

Baerbock wants to make climate policy a "central issue of the G7 presidency"

The G7 is chaired by one country for one year. On January 1st it is Germany's turn - and can therefore set some accents. The highlight will then be the summit meeting at Schloss Elmau from June 26th to 28th. Baerbock emphasized that climate policy will in future be "an essential part of German foreign policy and thus also a central issue during the G7 presidency". It shows "in a dramatic way that the escalation of the climate crisis is not only causing terrible suffering for individual people in different regions" - in Germany, for example, during the flood disaster this year.

“The climate crisis also exacerbates conflict in different regions of the world. Every tenth of a degree less global warming is a contribution to international security. ”Similar words were heard from Baerbock in her first speech after the coalition agreement was signed. The (still) party leader of the Greens described climate protection as “the central human rights task of our time”, a “massive aggravation of conflict with a view to insanely weakened regions”.

Baerbock had brought responsibility for international climate policy from the Ministry of the Environment to the Foreign Office.

Already in her first days in office, the 41-year-old announced that climate protection would "play a very central, new role in the Federal Foreign Office because we are experiencing worldwide that the poorest in the world are already suffering the most from the effects of the climate."

Baerbock with an appeal for democracy: host countries should be invited

Baerbock also demanded that the G7 countries should deal with strengthening democracy. According to Baerbock, one of the main messages of the German G7 presidency is: "Act before it's too late." This is the motto under which she will speak to the G7 foreign ministers and focus on the issues of forward-looking multilateralism and the resilience of democracies Baerbock.

The corona pandemic, for example, illustrates "how important it is that we enable international organizations to act with foresight".

She wants to invite those countries as guests to the consultations in the G7 format who not only want to invest in the future, "but who stand for economic development along with common values ​​such as freedom and the rule of law," said Baerbock.

Since Germany will organize two G7 foreign ministerial meetings, she is thinking about "inviting states from Africa to one meeting and devoting the other meeting to the Pacific region, for example".

Russia will not be one of the guests.