Germany’s Scholz calls for pragmatism as U.S. pushes Russia export bans

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday said his government wanted pragmatic measures to prevent the circumvention of sanctions imposed on Russia, appearing to temper U.S. calls for a more wide-ranging ban on exports. Scholz will attend a meeting of leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations in Japan this week to discuss plans to tighten sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine.
New measures will include targeting sanctions evasion involving third countries, officials familiar with the talks have said. U.S. officials also expect G7 members to agree to adjust their approach to sanctions so that, at least for certain categories of goods, all exports are automatically banned unless they are on a list of approved items.
European leaders at the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik had discussed ways to hold Russia to account for the invasion of Ukraine and unveiled a mechanism to track the losses and damage inflicted by Moscow’s forces.
But Scholz said it was not clear how exactly Russia could be made to pay for the damage, suggesting there were few legal options to use frozen Russian assets for example.