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Russia war in Ukraine, China’s growing global influence top Biden agenda on major Europe visit

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President Biden sought Sunday to rally America’s major allies to stay unified against Russia’s war in Ukraine while also announcing a new global infrastructure investment …
President Biden sought Sunday to rally America’s major allies to stay unified against Russia’s war in Ukraine while also announcing a new global infrastructure investment partnership among several of the world’s largest U. S. -aligned economies to counter China’s rising influence over Africa, Asia and Latin America. The infrastructure investment partnership, which has already drawn criticism for being a rehash of past initiatives that have struggled to gain global traction, was the centerpiece of opening meetings of the annual Group of Seven (G-7) leaders summit occurring this week in Germany. Mr. Biden, who appeared Sunday in the Bavarian Alps alongside German, French, British, Canadian, Italian and Japanese counterparts, said the investment partnership will “mobilize” $600 billion in “public and private capital” from the G-7 countries for projects that will show developing nations around the world “the concrete benefits of partnering with democracies.”
The dollar figure is higher than anything previously announced by Western powers to counter the hundreds of billions China has doled out in infrastructure loans globally over the past decade. Still, Sunday’s announcement risked being overshadowed by the more immediate crisis stemming from Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. Aides said much of the behind-the-scenes action at the G-7 so far has focused on preventing economic fallout from the Ukraine war that could fracture the global coalition currently imposing sanctions on Russia. SEE ALSO: As U.S. troops reach 100k in Europe, questions mount over endgame, long-term effects

Concerns about the coalition have grown in recent weeks amid fears Moscow could spark a widening energy crisis by cutting natural gas flows to Europe.
“We’ve got to make sure we have us all staying together,” Mr. Biden said during an initial round of public remarks Sunday after a pre-summit sit-down with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who holds the G-7′s rotating presidency and is hosting the gathering at Elmau Castle.
“You know, we’re gonna continue working on economic challenges that we face, but I think we get through all this,” the president said. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on other G-7 leaders not to give in to “fatigue” over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, even as Moscow appeared to be trying to preempt the summit and a major NATO leaders gathering slated to occur later in the coming week by increasing the pace of attacks in Ukraine. Russian forces unleashed a barrage of missile strikes through the weekend in Ukraine, with the G-7 countries responding by announcing plans to impose a ban on gold from Russia. A formal announcement on the gold ban is expected to occur by Tuesday before the G-7 leaders wrap their summit ahead of the NATO gathering, which begins Wednesday in Madrid.

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