ELMAU CASTLE, Germany, June 26, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - World powers on Sunday 
agreed to ban gold exports from Russia, kicking off a G7 meeting aimed at 
taking new steps to deplete Moscow's war chest and bolster Ukraine's 
defences.

US President Joe Biden and his counterparts from the world's most 
industrialised nations are gathering at Elmau Castle in the German Alps 
before they continue on to Madrid for talks with NATO partners.

They are seeking to close ranks for Ukraine against Russia's invasion while 
grappling with the intensifying global fallout of the war.

"We have to stay together," Biden told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the 
host of the three-day gathering.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had been hoping "that somehow NATO and the 
G7 would splinter", Biden said. "But we haven't and we're not going to."

Scholz also hailed Western unity which he said "Putin never expected", adding 
that each member of the club "needs to share responsibility" for facing the 
mounting challenges the war presents.

The statements of resolve came as Russia resumed strikes on central Kyiv in 
the first onslaught on the Ukrainian capital in three weeks -- an attack 
Biden condemned as "more of their barbarism".

Looking to the summit, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the G7 
to approve more sanctions on Moscow and more heavy weapons for Ukraine to 
defeat "Russia's sick imperialism".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will make the same plea when he joins 
the meeting via video-link on Monday.

From soaring inflation to a looming food crisis and energy shortages, 
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth month, has mired the world in 
a series of crises.

The G7 leaders are also confronting the looming threat of recession as well 
as pressures over climate change.

Seeking to turn up the heat on Moscow, the G7 announced it would outlaw 
imports of Russian gold. The United States said gold was the second largest 
export for Russia and a significant source of revenue for Putin and his 
allies.

- 'Weaponised energy' -

While Western allies have hammered the Russian economy with unprecedented 
sanctions, Putin's army has been digging in for a drawn-out war.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron 
said they now saw an "opportunity to turn the tide" in Ukraine.

Johnson warned that "any attempt to settle the conflict now will only cause 
enduring instability" and risked giving "Putin licence to manipulate both 
sovereign countries and international markets in perpetuity", a Downing 
Street spokesman said.

Seeking fresh measures to put the squeeze on Putin, Macron urged producers to 
cap oil prices to limit Russia profits from soaring energy revenues.

Paris backs a US proposal for a maximum oil price, Macron's office said, but 
added that "it would be much more powerful if it came from the producing 
countries".

John Kirby, National Security Council spokesman at the White House, said the 
G7 would be seeking to increase the costs and consequences of the war on 
Putin and the Russian economy.

At the same time, they will aim to minimise "as much as possible the effect 
of these rising oil prices and the way (Putin) has weaponised energy".

The impact on the economy formed the focus of the G7's opening session, with 
Scholz citing "sinking growth rates, rising inflation, raw material shortages 
and supply chain disruptions" as threats to a post-pandemic recovery.

- Systemic rival -

Scarred by a reliance on Russian energy that has hampered several European 
nations including Germany and Italy from going all out to punish Russia, the 
G7 was also warily looking at China -- which it views as a systemic rival.

"The impact that China's coercive economic practices, use of forced labour, 
intellectual theft -- all those are front and centre for the G7, and I think 
you're going to see China very much at the forefront as the G7 goes on," said 
Kirby.

As the gulf separating Western allies from Russia and China widens, the G7 
will also be looking to rally other major players to its side.

To this end, Scholz has invited the leaders of Argentina, India, Indonesia, 
Senegal and South Africa to the Alpine summit.

While Argentina and Indonesia voted at a crucial UN vote to condemn Russia, 
the other three abstained.

But all are being directly hit by a looming hunger crisis sparked by the 
holdup in grain and wheat exports from Ukraine, and India for instance has 
imposed restrictions on wheat exports.