Elmau Castle, Germany--The leaders of Germany and the United States hammered home a tough line on Russia Sunday at the start of a G7 summit dominated by crises in Ukraine and Greece.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel kicked off the day by treating US President Barack Obama to some traditional Bavarian beer garden hospitality, with frothy ale, pretzels and oompah brass music played by locals in lederhosen.
But after the smiles in the sunshine, both leaders issued a stark warning to President Vladimir Putin over what Obama said was his "aggression" in Ukraine.
"The two leaders ... agreed that the duration of sanctions should be clearly linked to Russia's full implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine's sovereignty," a statement from the White House said, referring to a ceasefire deal struck in the Belarus capital.
The folksy welcome and display of US-German unity contrasted sharply with the leaders' line on Russia, which was excluded from the talks.
EU President Donald Tusk, also attending the meeting at the heavily guarded Elmau Castle retreat, said he wanted to "reconfirm G7 unity on sanctions policy" against Russia, which he said would stay out of the G7 "community of values" as long as "it behaves aggressively with Ukraine and other countries."
The Japanese and Canadian leaders had Saturday made a point of visiting Kiev on their way to Germany to voice support for Ukraine's embattled leaders, as government troops again traded fire with pro-Russian rebels in the east.
A key G7 issue would be "standing up to Russian aggression in Ukraine," Obama said ahead of talks with Britain's David Cameron, France's Francois Hollande, Italy's Matteo Renzi, Canada's Stephen Harper and Japan's Shinzo Abe.
A recent flare-up in fighting in east Ukraine has left at least 28 dead and sparked fears that the escalation will derail the hard-won ceasefire brokered by France and Germany four months ago.
AFP
