France Says G7 Talks ‘Frank, Sometimes Difficult’

France’s finance minister acknowledged Tuesday that two days of talks among leading global economies were “sometimes difficult”, even as the group agreed a statement committing to multilateral cooperation in combating growing economic risks.

“We have had frank, sometimes difficult, direct discussions to find long-term and short-term solutions to major global economic challenges in order to guarantee economic stability,” Roland Lescure told reporters after the meeting of G7 finance ministers in Paris. The G7’s final communique however reaffirmed “our commitment to multilateral cooperation in addressing risks to the global economy”.

G7 finance ministers were “unanimous” on keeping up economic pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, he added.

The “willingness to keep pressure on Russia was unanimous”, Lescure said, after the US troubled allies by announcing a temporary extension of the suspension of sanctions on Russian oil stored at sea, amid concerns over the surge in prices caused by the Middle East war. (AFP)