G7 ministers said on Thursday that will try to intensify pressure on Russia to limit Moscow’s means of financing its war in Ukraine and they promised tackling commercial “naivety” about China.

The traders of United States, Canada, UK, Japan, France, Italy Yes Germanywho acts as hostess, met for two days at Neuhardenberg Palace in eastern Germany.

The G7 “will maintain and intensify its coordinated efforts to prevent Russia from profiting from its unlawful aggression” and for reduce Russia’s ability to continue the warthe trade ministers said in a statement after the meeting.

To support Kyiv, the ministers also discussed a “financial mechanism” aimed at pooling private and public funds for the future reconstruction of Ukraine.

On another side, the ministers said they wanted to “diversify” their trade relationsfaced with an increasingly tense geopolitical environment.

“We are in a geopolitical situation in which the idea of ​​global trade to improve people’s lives […] was put to the test“, said the German Minister of the Economy, Robert Habeckwho chaired the meeting.

“We, the G7 trade ministers, underline that diversification of trade and expansion of trade relations on a mutually beneficial basis are essential for […] improve the resilience and sustainability of our economies,” the ministers said.

In their line of sight, China.

“We have seen that dependence on a country that may not be a reliable partner is a danger to well-being and to world trade,said Habek. For this reason, he added, “We will implement a more robust trade policy towards China […]naivety is over”.

The ministers they also agreed on ‘concrete steps’ to advance the reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“We have agreed on concrete steps on how to enrich the WTO and make it a solid instrument,said Habek.

“The rules of the game must be multilateral and not just bilateral,stressed Habeck, who added that after the last WTO Ministerial Conference this year, the “playground “changed” and “compromises” were found.

“China is one of our concerns in terms of distortion of competition, subsidies to industries, transparencysaid EU Trade Commissioner Vladis Dombrovskis.

(With information from AFP and EFE)

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