At the two upcoming key summits, the G7 and NATO, Western leaders will try to tighten their grip on Moscow as much as possible, as the war in Ukraine, which has no end in sight, could jeopardize their unity.

The leaders of the great powers, including US President Joe Biden, meet in the Bavarian Alps on Sunday for the annual gathering of the world's seven most industrialized nations (G7). The group consists of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy and Germany.

Continued support for Ukraine, four months after the start of the Russian offensive, will be the focus of the meeting, as well as the two-day NATO summit starting on June 28 in Madrid.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, host of the G7 summit, reminded this week that support for Ukraine would require "perseverance".

"It is true that we are still far from negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, because Putin still believes in the possibility of a dictated peace," Scholz said. for Ukraine and Coordinated Arms Delivery ”.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has warned that the war in Ukraine could last "for years".

Stefan Meister of the German research institute DGAP claims that Russian aggression has forced G7 members to realize that they need each other because inflation or the threat of an energy and food crisis as a result of the war will further test the resistance of the international community.

The leaders are also expected to discuss the "Marshall Plan" for the reconstruction of Ukraine, which will cost "billions" and involve "several generations".

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, will address the G7 leaders via video link and ask for more weapons, and he will do the same at the NATO summit.

NATO is expected to unveil plans to protect its eastern flank, close to Russia.

Ankara's announcement that it will block Sweden and Finland's accession to NATO casts a shadow over the expected display of unity among the allies, French media reported.

Berlin blames Moscow for cutting gas supplies to trigger an energy crisis in Europe before winter, and in that context it is important to note that Indonesia, India, Senegal, South Africa and Argentina also participate in the G7.

Thorsten Brenner, director general of the Global Institute for Public Policy, said "the key task is to convince many non-Western countries that are skeptical of sanctions that the West is taking into account their fears of rising energy prices when imposing sanctions."

"The G7 must make it clear that the Western world will assume its responsibility to promote food security in vulnerable countries," Brenner said.

India, Senegal and South Africa abstained from voting on a UN resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. These growing economies are particularly vulnerable to the risks of food shortages and climate change.

Christoph Bals, political director of the Germanwatch NGO, said in the context of the decline in Russian gas supplies that he was "concerned about a possible step backwards in terms of the G7's commitment to ending international funding for fossil fuels."

"The food crisis, the debt crisis and the climate crisis have the same reasons: our dependence on fossil fuels," said Lawrence Tubiana, one of the creators of the Paris Agreement.