As the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G7 countries prepare to meet in Stresa on May 23-25, 2024, Razom We Stand calls for urgent and decisive measures to address the escalating crisis in Ukraine: The G7 must cut off financial flows from Russian fossil fuel exports and intensify support for Ukraine's clean energy transition to finally put a halt to the Kremlin’s thirst for war.
Finance ministers from the G7 are expected to discuss the price cap as part of their continuing deliberations about how to tighten sanctions on Russia and provide more aid to Ukraine. To do this, the G7 must first confront its complicity in purchasing Russian fossil fuels, which continue to fund Putin’s war chest and cause immense suffering in Ukraine. According to the New York Times, energy and sanctions experts believe the leaks in the price cap were the result of design flaws that were largely associated with American interests in keeping Russian oil flowing.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, its revenues from fossil fuel exports have exceeded EUR 669 billion. G7 countries have significantly contributed to this revenue by purchasing Russian LNG and oil products. This financial support enables Russia to persist in its brutal attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, leaving thousands of civilians without power due to rolling blackouts.
These attacks have inflicted permanent damage on Ukraine’s energy system, targeting not only generating stations but also compromising water supply in certain areas and disrupting electricity access for millions of civilians.
It is utterly unacceptable that EU citizens are unknowingly funding over 125,000 alleged war crimes in Ukraine by effectively handing over approximately EUR 420 per citizen to the Kremlin through the purchase of Russian fossil fuels.
Svitlana Romanko, Founder and Director of Razom We Stand, emphasised: "The G7 must face the reality that the ongoing global purchases of Russian fossil fuels are directly funding Russia’s relentless assault on Ukraine, inflicting unimaginable human suffering and causing irreparable damage to our energy system. Every dollar spent on Russian energy fuels this brutality. The G7 stands at a crossroads: continue enabling this violence, or take a decisive stand to cut off this financial lifeline and champion Ukraine’s transition to sustainable, clean energy sources. Failure to act will make them complicit in the bloodshed, a stain that history will not forget.”
Despite being in the third year of Putin’s full-scale invasion, EU imports of Russian LNG have not decreased. In fact, during the second year of the invasion, EU import volumes of Russian LNG remained over 30% higher than the year before the invasion, with exceptionally high import levels in G7 countries France and Germany.
Razom We Stand demands that the G7 implement stringent enforcement measures, including immediate sanctions on vessels violating oil price caps, bans on the transshipment of Russian LNG in EU ports, and prohibitions on importing oil products derived from Russian crude.
The G7 should leverage its substantial resources to help Ukraine rebuild its energy infrastructure cleaner and more resilient. Ukraine's Soviet-era centralised energy system has been severely damaged, and the situation continues to deteriorate further with almost daily attacks.
The G7 should capitalise on Ukraine's vast solar and wind energy potential. These renewable resources can not only meet Ukraine's electricity needs but also enhance energy security through decentralised generation. Continuing to support new gas investments is economically unjustifiable, especially given the oil and gas industry's record profits over the past two years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Instead, what the G7 should be doing is investing in cheaper, cleaner energy sources like wind and solar, which can stimulate economies, take away the power of petro-dictators, reduce climate damage costs, and benefit the environment.
As the world, and especially many of the G7 countries, continue to peddle the narrative that they support Ukraine, they have a responsibility to truly stand with Ukraine and take meaningful steps to address the root causes of this conflict: the revenues Russia derives from fossil fuels. Razom We Stand demands that G7 leaders seize this opportunity to prioritise peace, security, and environmental sustainability.
ENDS
