Kiev: One year after Russia was ousted out of G7 summit, US President Barcak Obama is set to urge the Group of Seven leaders to maintain the sanctions on Moscow in wake of escalating Ukraine conflict.
Barack Obama who arrived in southern German city in Bavarian Alps to attend G7 summit, will press summit leaders to extend sanctions on Russia in case it continued to escalate the crisis in eastern Ukraine.
“It’s important for Russia to understand that should it continue to have further escalation in Ukraine, it could be faced with additional consequences,' the US State Department added.
Russia was excluded out of G7 group last year after Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea.
Ukraine and West accuse Moscow of supporting pro-Russian separatists by arming them. However Russia denies the claim.
So far thousands have died in the fighting between Ukrainian government and pro-Russian rebels since it began last year.
President Obama attends the #G7 Summit in Krün, Germany, June 7-8. Leaders will focus on Ukraine, Iran, and ISIL. http://t.co/7ts6ysdZbB
— Department of State (@StateDept) June 6, 2015
Other than Ukraine crisis, G7 summit will also focus on Iran nuclear talks and US startegy in combating the Islamic State in Iraq (especially in the aftermath of the fall of Ramdi).
G7 Summit in Germany, June 7-8, will also address trade, #climatechange, women's economic empowerment and #EbolaResponse, said another USD tweet.
Meanwhile, protesters numbering thousands have been demonstrating near the venue for the G7 summit in southern Germany.
Over 22,000 police officers have been deployed to maintain the security and even though the protests have largely been peaceful, but according to fresh reports, there were clashes between the police and the protesters.
A peaceful march through the town by anti-capitalism activists, opponents of globalisation, environmentalists and other groups turned violent after some of the protesters threw bottles and a fire extinguisher at police officials when they were stopped at a barricade blocking access to the road leading to the Elmau Castle Hotel, the summit venue.
Police responded using teargas, pepper spray and batons against the demonstrators. Several people were injured on both sides in the clashes last evening, police said.
Stop G7 Elmau, an alliance of various groups that organised the demonstration, said that a number of protesters suffered injuries in the clashes and some of them needed hospital treatment.
It held the police responsible for the confrontation and vowed to continue the protest marches until the G7 leaders leave the area.
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which has been under negotiation between the EU and the United States for over a year and the plans for fracking in Europe are among the targets of the anti-G7 demonstrators.
With Agency Inputs
