G7 leaders kickoff summit with new measures to counter Russia, China

G7 leaders gathered in the Bavarian Alps, Germany for a three-day summit on Sunday as the Russia-Ukraine war, China, global inflation, and energy were among the top agendas of the summit. The first day of G7 summit took place as Russian missiles struck the Ukrainian capital city, Kyiv, which US President Joe Biden condemned as "barbarism".

Here are the major highlights of Day 1 of the G7 summit in Germany:

G7 plegdes $600 bn for global infra programmes

In a bid to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative, the G7 on Sunday announced $600 billion for global infrastructure programmes in poor nations. The White House said that the US government and its allies will shoot for the $600-billion figure "through grants, federal financing, and leveraging private sector investments" between now and 2027. Of this $600 billion fund, US President Joe Biden said that the US aims to raise $200 billion while the rest of the G7 will bring another $400 billion to the table. 

Ban on Russian gold imports 

G7 leaders on Sunday agreed on new measures banning the imports of Russia gold, in a bid to further isolate Moscow and put pressure on Rusian President Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine. Gold is a major export of Russia as in 2021, the yellow metal brought 12.6 billion pounds to the nation's economy. Gold's value has also increased recently as oilgarchs are rushing to buy gold bullion, in a bid to avoid the financial impacts of western sanctions. 

With this import ban on new Russian-origin gold, over 13.5 billion pounds of our imports from Russia will be covered by restrictions, said UK chancellor Rishi Sunak. A formal announcement on gold imports ban is expected on Tuesday

Biden urges Western unity on Ukraine

As Biden and his western allies opened the summit, the US president urged G7 nations to stay together. During a pre-summit meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he said, "We have to stay together, because Putin has been counting on, from the beginning, that somehow NATO and the G-7 would splinter, but we haven't and we're not going to." 

Biden and the leaders of UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, plus the EU, spent Sunday in both formal and informal settings discussing the effects of the Russian war on the global economy, including inflation, and on infrastructure.

As the summit will resume for a second day on Monday, the G7 leaders can possibly announce price caps on energy meant to limit Russian oil and gas profits that Moscow can pump into its war effort.

(With inputs from agencies)