Von der Leyen railed at G7 summit: She wants to "tell Putin to his face what we think of him"

Created: 2022-06-27 05:24

By: Andreas Schmid

At the G7 summit, think about the G20 meeting: EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is planning a confrontation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

© Lukas Barth/afp

The G7 summit in Elmau is underway.

The heads of state around Scholz, Macron and Biden will talk about the Ukraine war, among other things, on Monday.

The news ticker for the G7 summit.

• Billion dollar package

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  China

  : G7 participants want to promote developing countries.

• Selenskyj

  guest at the

  G7 summit

  : Ukraine President present via video link.

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  All G7 information at a glance.

Update from June 26, 10:10 p.m .:

As EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen is present at the G7 summit at Schloss Elmau.

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, the CDU politician commented on how she was dealing with Vladimir Putin, who has been letting Russian troops rage in Ukraine for four months.

"It's important to tell him to his face what we think of him and what we think of this type of action," stressed von der Leyen, with a view to the G20 meeting in November on the Indonesian island of Bali.

However, in her opinion, it is too important a body, "also for the developing countries, the emerging countries" to let Putin "destroy" it.

In the event of a direct confrontation, she would like the Kremlin boss to say: "Then he should also take a stand."

The basic motto of the evening in Elmau was: "This is about whether the democracies will prevail, or whether the aggressor who brutally attacked Ukraine will prevail." Because von der Leyen fears imitators: "Other autocrats in the world look very carefully whether it is still possible to move borders and invade countries with brute force, military might, or whether the democracies will stand up and use their own strength, and that is above all economic strength, to give an appropriate response and say: Stop, up to here and no further."

New guests, Zelenskyj and possible Putin attacks: that's what the second G7 day will bring

First report from June 26th:

Elmau/Garmisch-Partenkirchen - The first day of the G7 summit in Elmau was marked by symbolic images and the announcement of a package worth billions for developing countries.

On the second day of the summit on Monday, the Ukraine war is on the G7 agenda.

The summit participants from Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, USA, Canada and Japan gathered on Sunday in front of the Upper Bavarian Alps.

On the bench, where Angela Merkel and Barack Obama provided intimate moments in 2015, the G7 group smiled for the cameras after a "working dinner".

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The informal group picture of the G7 summit: from left to right: Mario Draghi (Italy), Ursula von der Leyen (EU), Joe Biden (USA), Olaf Scholz (Germany), Boris Johnson (UK), Justin Trudeau (Canada) , Fumio Kishida (Jaoan), Emmanuel Macron (France) and Charles Michel (EU).

© Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP

G7 summit in Elmau: package worth billions as an alternative to China

The heads of state and government around Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden had previously announced a billion-euro package for developing countries.

An investment program is intended to counteract China's influence.

The initiative, which was largely initiated by the USA, is intended to “enable high-quality and sustainable infrastructure”.

In total, it is about 600 billion dollars (568 billion euros).

The envisaged sum is not government aid payments.

Rather, with the support of governments, primarily private capital should be mobilized.

So you are dependent on the gusto of private entrepreneurs.

The aim is to make poorer countries in Asia and Africa, which want to build ports, roads and bridges for their development, less dependent on Chinese investments.

G7 summit 2022 in Elmau: Pictures of the most powerful men in the world in front of a spectacular mountain backdrop

View photo gallery

G7 summit in Elmau: Zelenskyj present via video link

On Monday, the Ukraine war is the top priority on the G7 agenda.

While the G7 leaders were meeting at Schloss Elmau, Russia bombed Kyiv.

Actually, Russian troops had withdrawn from the Ukrainian capital.

A targeted provocation by Vladimir Putin?

"One has to assume that Putin is flexing his muscles here," said EPP boss Manfred Weber (CSU) on the sidelines of the summit on ARD.

Volodymyr Zelenskyj will also be there on the second day of the summit.

However, the Ukrainian President will only take part virtually in the deliberations in Bavaria.

The topics of climate, energy and health will also be discussed on Monday.

The heads of state and government of Indonesia, South Africa, India, Senegal and Argentina are expected at Schloss Elmau.

Among other things, partnerships for a sustainable energy policy will be discussed with them.

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