In a March 11 joint statement, the leaders of the G7 nations, consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, agreed to take action to deny Russia’s “most favored nation” status relating to key products of Russian companies. Likewise, they welcomed the ongoing preparation of a statement by a coalition of WTO members, including the G7, announcing their revocation of Russia’s “most favored nation” status. This statement also outlines additional G7 actions against Russia, which include:
- working together to prevent Russia from obtaining financing from the leading multilateral financial institutions, including the IMF, the World Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development,
- continuing the campaign of pressure against Russian elites, proxies, and oligarchs close to President Putin,
- maintaining existing restrictive measures to crack down on evasion and close loopholes,
- fighting against Russia’s attempts to spread disinformation,
- standing ready to impose further restrictions on exports and imports of key goods and technologies of the Russian Federation, including luxury goods, a ban which the United States has already implemented (see our blog post here), and
- denying access to new debt and equity investments to Russian entities directly or indirectly supporting the war.
Concluding their statement, the G7 agreed to evaluate the impacts of their measures, including on third parties, and take further actions to hold the Russian Government accountable for the attack on Ukraine.
