Although Russia was absent from the recent G7 summit, the Eastern European country took centre stage for world leaders.
Oakville’s Ella Kokotsis got the inside scoop on the discussions in Brussels, Belgium, appearing at the summit as the director of accountability for the G8 and G20 Research Groups based at the University of Toronto.
She works for the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) by day, is a wife and mother of two by night — and each year attends the summits as a G8 specialist.
That’s because Kokotsis, who has attended more than a dozen such summits, volunteers with the G8 and G20 Research Group as director of external relations.
The organization is situated at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. The groups consist of scholars, professionals and students interested in the activities of the G8 and G20.
She began working with the group director, professor John Kirton, a leading international expert on the G8 and global governance, in 1994 while working on her doctorate at the University of Toronto. This is how she got involved with the summits.
Originally scheduled as a G8 summit in Sochi, Russia, G7 leaders moved this year’s June 4-5 conference to Brussels and excluded Russia because of its illegal referendum and annexation of Crimea earlier this year.
The annual G8 meetings provide an opportunity for the leaders of the most industrialized economies to meet face-to-face, address a broad range of global issues, coordinate their development and security policies and collectively manage global crises.
Despite the situation, Kokotsis said the mood at the summit was “very positive.”
“The Ukrainian issue dominated the first day of meetings between leaders. The G7 issued a joint statement noting it remained united in condemning Russia’s continued violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Kokotsis told the Oakville Beaver through email while out of the country.
The world leaders’ language on Crimea was quite strong, Kokotsis said, noting the G7 stated Russia’s annexation of Crimea was “unacceptable and must stop.”
“They urged Russia to complete its withdrawal of military forces and stop the flow of weapons and militants across the border,” said Kokotsis.
The G7 recognized Ukraine’s new democratically-elected President Petro Poroshenko and endorsed the legitimacy of his recent majority election win.
Kokotsis said world leaders at the summit urged Russian President Vladimir Putin “to do the same.”
“With the newly-elected Ukrainian president acknowledging he would never recognize Russia’s occupation of Crimea, the Crimean issue played a pivotal role in the G7’s discussions on Ukraine,” said Kokotsis.
To foster healthier relations between Russia and Ukraine, France’s President Francois Hollande invited Putin and Poroshenko to attend the 70th anniversary of D-Day commemorations in Normandy on June 6.
Both leaders appeared and met briefly to discuss Ukraine. The Russian president also had talks with several G7 leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama. Prime Minister Stephen Harper declined to meet officially with Putin.
“A formal recognition of Poroshenko by Putin would signal to the world a de-facto recognition of the new Ukrainian president-elect,” said Kokotsis.
Ahead of the Brussels summit, Kokotsis said the Group of Seven were prepared to add new sanctions against Russia, targeting sectors that would affect it the most — energy technology and banking-freezes.
But the group decided against additional sanctions and opted for a diplomatic resolution with Putin instead.
“German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Hollande mentioned in their press conferences that a third round of sanctions was not needed at the moment as Ukraine had swiftly moved to a free and fair election,” said Kokotsis.
However, Merkel and Hollande stated that should the Ukraine situation continue to escalate in the future, “the G7 would stand ready to strengthen targeted sanctions’ and would consider imposing further costs on Russia should events require,” Kokotsis said.
The Oakville resident noted the seven leaders pledged to work with Ukraine to support its economic development and sovereignty through an $18-billion injection of funds by G7 partners.
Energy security was also one of the leaders’ focuses, with the G7 discussing ways to keep gas and other energy supplies flowing through Ukraine.
Kokotsis said the recent conflict highlighted the leaders’ conviction that diversifying the energy supply must be at the centre of their joint agenda.
“They committed to implement concrete domestic policies to build a more competitive, diversified, resilient, low-carbon energy system based on the principles their energy ministers mutually agreed to at their Rome ministerial on May 5-6,” said Kokotsis, noting leaders asked their energy ministers to provide an update in 2015.
The group was also clear in recognizing the energy security and climate change link, she said, noting reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and a move to a low-carbon economy was discussed.
“(Leaders) committed to better conservation practices, committed to shift to alternative and renewable fuels and increased efforts to reduce fossil fuel subsidies. They also committed to work towards reducing global temperature increases to less than 2 C,” said Kokotsis.
“The G7 also pledged to work towards a new post-Kyoto climate regime (in 2015).”
According to Kokotsis, Canada’s most significant contribution at the summit was its progress on maternal, newborn and child health, known as the Muskoka Initiative. It is an issue Harper brought forward in 2010 at the G8 summit in Muskoka.
“After pledging $3.5 billion (over five years) to this initiative just prior to coming to Brussels, one of Harper’s key objectives in Brussels was to rally money for this cause by his G7 partners,” said Kokotsis, who works for the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO).
“The prime minister successfully managed to convince his G7 partners to donate.”