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HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finland and Sweden will send delegations to Ankara on Wednesday to try to resolve Turkish opposition to their applications for membership of the NATO military alliance, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Tuesday.

Ankara’s objections have put the brakes on what Sweden and Finland hoped would be a quick accession process as the two countries look to shore up their security following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We understand that Turkey has some of their own security concerns vis-a-vis terrorism,” Haavisto said during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “We think that these issues can be settled. There might be also some issues that are not linked directly to Finland and Sweden but more to other NATO members.”

Turkey says Sweden and Finland harbour people linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group and followers of Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that talks would start on Wednesday.

On Monday, Turkey outlined five conditions for it to back Sweden’s NATO membership bid, demanding that Sweden lift sanctions against Turkey, including an arms export embargo; end “political support for terrorism”; eliminate sources of terrorism financing and halt arms support to the PKK and its armed Syrian offshoot YPG, according to a list published by the president’s directorate of communications.

“Sweden, which has applied for membership, is expected to take principled steps and provide concrete assurances regarding Turkey’s security concerns,” the directorate said in the statement.

“Since 2017, our country has requested the extradition of PKK/PYD and FETO terrorists from Sweden but has yet to receive a positive response,” it said, referring to Syria’s main Kurdish party PYD and Gulen’s group FETO in addition to PKK.

A Turkish official said Turkey would not backtrack in its talks with Sweden and Finland unless concrete progress was made to address Ankara’s security concerns, adding it was not separately negotiating with Washington over the Nordic countries.

“There are a number of diplomatic initiatives ongoing,” Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said in a statement. “We have no further comments.”

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who has objected to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, held phone calls with the leaders of the two Nordic countries on Saturday and discussed his concerns.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said the talks were “open and direct”.

“I stated that as NATO allies Finland and Turkey will commit to each other’s security and our relationship will thus grow stronger,” Niinisto tweeted after the call.

Erdogan spoke also with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Saturday, telling him that Ankara would not look positively on Sweden and Finland’s NATO bids unless they clearly show cooperation in the fight against terrorism and other issues.

(Reporting by Anne Kauranen. Additional reporting by Helena Soderpalm and Simon Johnson in Stockholm, Ece Toksabay and Orhan Coskun in Ankara; Editing by Catherine Evans, Nick Macfie and Raissa Kasolowsky)

By Patricia Weiss and Ludwig Burger

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Germany’s vaccine advisory panel on Tuesday said one COVID-19 shot was enough for healthy five- to 11-year-olds because most of them had already undergone an infection, maintaining its cautious approach.

The view by the panel of 18 appointees, known as STIKO, contrasts with European Union regulators’ approval for a two-shot regimen in that age group. U.S. regulators last week even authorized a third, booster shot for the group.

“For children we have to assume that the rate of spreading of the infection is the highest. That’s why it’s reasonable to administer only one vaccination,” STIKO panel member Martin Terhardt told a media briefing.

The expert panel’s previous view on the age group, published in December, was to limit vaccinations to those at risk of developing severe COVID-19 or those living with an at-risk person, drawing criticism at the time for not keeping up with the of pace of the coronavirus.

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said STIKO’s move had his full backing.

“I hope that the vaccine will be well accepted but we must not exert pressure,” he added.

Children at risk of developing severe COVID-19 should get three shots and those living with an at-risk person should get two, the STIKO experts added on Tuesday.

About 22% of five- to 11-year-old children in Germany have so far received at least one COVID shot. Within the age group of five to nine years, tracked by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), a higher vaccination rate has been registered in Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Austria.

STIKO did not highlight any disadvantages of giving more shots. Instead it said the risk of heart inflammation from a vaccination appeared to be markedly lower for younger children than in youngsters above 12 years old or young adults.

An estimated 77.5% of five to 11-year-olds in Germany had already acquired some immunity against the virus either through known and undetected infections or via vaccination, the panel said in a document posted online.

STIKO said the preferred product was the paediatric version of BioNTech and Pfizer’s Comirnaty but Moderna’s shot was another option for those six years and older.

(Additional reporting by Riham Alkousaa in BerlinEditing by Madeline Chambers and Susan Fenton)

By Sabine Siebold

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday called for talks with Moscow on unlocking wheat exports that are trapped in Ukraine as a result of a Russian sea blockade.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week accused Russia of using food as a weapon by holding “hostage” supplies for not just Ukrainians, but also millions of people around the world. Moscow rejects this allegation.

“The most important (thing) is to deblock the Black Sea. This is a call on Russia,” von der Leyen told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

Von der Leyen, who is president of the European Union’s executive, said a food crisis was approaching at full speed and some sort of dialogue with Moscow was needed to unlock 20 million tons of wheat stuck in Ukraine.

“It cannot be in Russia’s interest that, because of Russia, people are dying of hunger in the world,” she said, adding that a solution to create food corridors needed to be found.

“I think we should first of all look at the dialogue with Russia, whether there is not an agreement that this wheat gets out of Ukraine”, the European Commission head said.

Russia and Ukraine together account for nearly a third of global wheat supplies, while Ukraine is also a major exporter of corn, barley, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil.

Meanwhile, Russia and Belarus, which has backed Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, account for more than 40% of global exports of potash, a key crop nutrient.

Von der Leyen said the European Union should also step up its own production, making it easier for farmers to have a second crop or to increase wheat production.

RECONSTRUCTION

Ukraine is top of the agenda at this year’s gathering of more than 2,000 business and political leaders, NGOs and academics, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holding the de facto opening speech.

By contrast, no Russian companies or state institutions have been invited to the annual event in the Swiss Alpine resort.

With regard to the funding of Ukraine’s reconstruction after the war, the EU is considering making use of frozen Russian central bank and oligarchs’ funds, von der Leyen said.

“The basic feeling of fairness tells us we should look and we do look into that,” she said.

The Baltic states have been calling for the confiscation of Russian assets, including central bank reserves of $300 billion, but it is unclear if this would be legal for the EU to do.

On May 3, Ukraine estimated the cost of reconstruction at $600 billion.

“It is not trivial but…the destruction of Ukraine was done by Russia’s completely unjustified war, and therefore, if the whole world steps up to reconstruct Ukraine, Russia should also carry its fair share,” she added.

Von der Leyen did not want to comment on what conditions would constitute a sufficient basis for Ukraine to accept an agreement about an end of the war.

“There is one important principle: It is Ukraine that defines and decides what they conceive as – this is for us the end of the war, this is acceptable. It is Ukraine, that decides on that,” she said.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold and Bart Meijer, Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Alexander Smith)

By Michael Martina, Nobuhiro Kubo and Hyonhee Shin

(Reuters) -Russian and Chinese military planes conducted joint exercises to patrol the Asia-Pacific region on Tuesday in a pointed farewell to U.S. President Joe Biden as he concluded an Asia trip that rankled Beijing.

Japan scrambled jets after Russian and Chinese warplanes neared its airspace while Tokyo was hosting the leaders of the Quad group of countries, which includes the United States, said Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, who called the move a provocation.

It was the first joint military exercise by China and Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to a U.S. official, and it came at the tail end of Biden’s four-day trip.

“We think it shows that China continues to be willing to closely align themselves with Russia, including through military cooperation,” a senior administration official said, adding that such actions must be planned well in advance.

“China is not walking away from Russia. Instead, the exercise shows that China is ready to help Russia defend its east while Russia fights in its west,” the official said.

Biden stressed during the trip, intended in part to counter China’s growing influence in the region, that the United States will stand with its allies and partners to push for a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Beijing and Moscow declared a “no-limits” partnership just weeks before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, and China has refused to condemn the move.

The joint patrol lasted 13 hours over the Japanese and East China seas and involved Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers and Chinese Xian H-6 jets, the Russian defense ministry said in a statement.

Planes from the Japanese and South Korean air forces shadowed the Russian and Chinese jets for part of the exercise, it said.

Tokyo conveyed “grave concerns” to both Russia and China through diplomatic channels, Kishi said at a news conference.

He characterized the incident as a likely provocation by both Beijing and Moscow on a day when Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australia’s newly elected leader, Anthony Albanese, were meeting in Tokyo.

“We believe the fact that this action was taken during the Quad summit makes it more provocative than in the past,” he said, adding it was the fourth such incident since November.

Chinese naval vessels likely participated in the joint exercise, a U.S. official said.

China’s defense ministry confirmed the joint aerial patrol over the Sea of Japan, East China Sea and the Western Pacific and called it part of an annual military exercise.

On Monday, Biden angered China by saying he would be willing to use force to defend Taiwan, but he said later U.S. policy toward the self-ruled democratic island had not changed. China considers Taiwan an inalienable part of its territory that should be reunited with the mainland.

Tuesday’s drill was the first reported since new South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol took office on May 10. On Sunday, Yoon wrapped up his summit with Biden, where the two leaders pledged support for measures seen as countering China’s influence in the region, and criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine.

South Korea’s military said it scrambled fighter jets after at least four Chinese and four Russian warplanes entered its air defense zone.

The Russian and Chinese aircraft entered and left the Korea Air Defence Identification Zone (Korea ADIZ) in the Sea of Japan, known in Korea as the East Sea, several times through the day, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The aircraft, which included fighter jets and bombers from each side, did not violate South Korea’s airspace, it said.

South Korea had no warning of the apparent drills, a military source in Seoul said. When Seoul saw that the aircraft appeared to be headed toward the defense zone, it used hotlines to warn Chinese and Russian counterparts, the source said.

China responded that it was a regular exercise, the source added, while there was no response from Russia.

Unlike airspace, an air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, is usually an area where countries may unilaterally demand that foreign aircraft take special steps to identify themselves, with no international laws governing ADIZs.

(Reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo Satoshi Sugiyama in Tokyo, Michael Martina in Washington, Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith in Seoul, Reuters bureau; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)

By Pavel Polityuk and Silvia Aloisi

KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine is seeking ways to get grain and vegetable oils out of the country by breaking a months-long blockade of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea by the Russian navy and moving more by land.

The war, together with Western sanctions against Russia, have sent the price of grain, cooking oil, fertiliser and energy soaring.

That in turn is threatening a global food crisis as many countries count on Russia and Ukraine for more than half of their wheat imports, including some of the poorest.

Russia and Ukraine together account for nearly a third of the global wheat supply, and their importance has been underscored by an Indian export ban and adverse crop weather in North America and Western Europe.

Ukraine is also a major exporter of corn, barley, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil, while Russia and Belarus – which has backed Moscow in the war and is also under sanctions – account for over 40% of global exports of the crop nutrient potash.

HOW MUCH GRAIN IS STUCK IN UKRAINE?

Grain is one of Ukraine’s main industries, with exports totalling $12.2 billion in 2021 and accounting for nearly a fifth of the country’s exports.

Prior to the war, Ukraine exported 98% of its cereals and oilseed via the Black Sea, at a rate of up to 6 million tonnes per month. Typically, only a fraction of its exports went by rail, where transport costs are higher.

But with the ports blocked and the railway system unable to cope with the extra volume, the country is currently only exporting between 1-1.5 million tonnes a month.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week accused Russia of using food as a weapon in Ukraine by holding “hostage” supplies for not just Ukrainians, but also millions around the world. The Kremlin says it is the West that triggered the crisis by slapping sanctions against Moscow.

According to a U.N. food agency official, nearly 25 million tonnes of grain were stuck in Ukraine as of early May due to infrastructure challenges and the naval blockade. As prices surge, U.N. agencies are having to cut food rations for refugees and displaced people by up to half in parts of the Sahel, for example, due to a massive funding shortfall.

WHY CAN’T THE GRAINS GET OUT OF UKRAINE BY LAND?

Exporting by train is a challenge because the Ukrainian rail system operates on a different gauge to European neighbours such as Poland, so the grain has to be transferred to different trains at the border where there are not many transfer or storage facilities.

Kyiv has also been stepping up efforts to ship via the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta. But as of mid-May, only about 240,000 tonnes of grain – or 1% of the volume stuck in Ukraine – had passed through, its manager Florin Goidea told Reuters.

Re-routing grain to Romania involves transport by rail to ports on the Danube river and loading cargoes onto barges for sailing towards Constanta – making the process complex and costly.

WHAT OTHER OPTIONS ARE BEING DISCUSSED?

Western powers have been discussing the idea of setting up “safe corridors” to allow grain to be shipped out of Ukrainian ports.

But officials have warned that any such corridor would not be possible without Russian consent.

Ukraine says it needs “guarantees of security”, with deputy economy minister Taras Kachka telling Reuters last week that having “vessels of third countries in the area …would be an ideal situation.”

Russia’s foreign ministry in turn said that if it were to heed a United Nations appeal to open access to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, the removal of sanctions against Russia would also have to be considered, the Interfax news agency reported.

Making things even more difficult are drifting mines in the Black Sea, which each side accuses the other of planting.

Insurance costs for any vessel braving these shipping lanes would also likely be very high.

The situation has taken on added urgency because of a shortage of grain storage space in Ukraine, where the next crop will be harvested from July.

Up to 35% of Ukraine’s total storage capacity of 61 million tonnes could still be used up by the old 2021 crop by the time the new harvest comes in, according to research centre APK-Inform.

(Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris; writing by Silvia Aloisi; editing by Jason Neely)

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Sakura Murakami

TOKYO (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday he would be willing to use force to defend Taiwan against Chinese aggression in a comment that seemed to stretch the limits of the ambiguous U.S. policy towards the self-ruled island.

While Washington is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, it has long followed a policy of “strategic ambiguity” on whether it would intervene militarily to protect Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.

After Biden made the remark at a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, an aide said the president’s statement represented no change in the long-standing American stance to the island that China claims as its own.

A reporter asked Biden if the United States would defend Taiwan if it were attacked. “Yes,” the president answered.

“That’s the commitment we made,” said Biden, who helped build an international coalition trying to thwart Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We agree with a one-China policy. We’ve signed on to it and all the intended agreements made from there. But the idea that, that it (Taiwan) can be taken by force, just taken by force, is just not, is just not appropriate,” he said.

Biden added it was his expectation that such an event would not happen or be attempted.

But the comment was likely to be closely watched in a region worried about China’s rising influence. China has been a key topic for Biden on his inaugural trip to Asia.

A White House official later said there was no change in policy towards Taiwan.

China considers the democratic island its territory, under its “one China” principle, and says it is the most sensitive and important issue in its relationship with Washington.

China has no room for compromise or concessions on matters relating to its sovereignty and territorial integrity, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular news briefing.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry thanked Biden for his support.

Biden’s national security aides shifted in their seats and appeared to be studying Biden closely as he responded to the question on Taiwan. Several looked down.

Biden made a similar comment in October, saying “Yes, we have a commitment to do that” when asked if the United States would come to the defence of Taiwan. At that time, a White House spokesperson said Biden was not announcing any change in U.S. policy and one analyst referred to the comment as a “gaffe”.

Despite the White House insistence that Monday’s comments did not represent a change of policy, Grant Newsham, a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel and now a research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, said the meaning was clear.

“This statement deserves to be taken seriously,” Newsham said. “It is a clear enough statement that the U.S. will not sit by if China attacks Taiwan.”

‘TOUGHEN THE POLICY’

Biden made other tough comments about Beijing’s increasingly assertive posture in the region, saying he hoped Russian President Vladimir Putin would pay a price for his invasion of Ukraine in part to show China what it would face if it were to invade Taiwan.

“They’re seeking to toughen their policy but without necessarily provoking China,” said James Brown, an associate professor at Temple University Japan.

Biden’s remarks are also likely to overshadow the centrepiece of his Japan visit, the launch of an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a broad plan providing an economic pillar for U.S. engagement with Asia.

During his time in Tokyo, Biden is also scheduled to meet the leaders of India and Australia – the other members of the Quad, an informal security grouping formed to counter China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Japanese premier Kishida emphasised Tokyo’s readiness to take a more robust defence posture, something the United States has long welcomed.

Kishida said he told Biden that Japan would consider various options to boost its defence capabilities, including the ability to retaliate. That would include a “considerable increase” in its defence budget, Kishida said.

Japan’s role in any conflict over Taiwan would be to enable a U.S. operation and help the United States defend its assets, said Yoji Koda, a retired Maritime Self Defense Force admiral and former fleet commander.

“Japan’s role in that would be substantial. Japan is an enabler of that security deterrence,” he said.

Kishida said that he had gained support from Biden on Japan becoming a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council amid growing calls for reform of the council. China and Russia are permanent members.

UPDATE 1-Biden’s Asian economic talks include 13 countries, and no ChinaChina’s foreign ministry hits back at Biden comments on U.S. aiding Taiwan militarilyTaiwan foreign ministry thanks Biden for reaffirming safety commitment TIMELINE-Comments by Biden and others on U.S. policy of ‘ambiguity’ on Taiwan

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, Sakura Murakami, Chang-Ran Kim, Nobuhiro Kubo, Daniel Leussink, Kantaro Komiya, Ju-min Park, and Tim Kelly; Writing by Steve Holland, Elaine Lies and David Dolan; Editing by Mary Milliken, Robert Birsel, Simon Cameron-Moore and Nick Macfie)

By Balazs Koranyi and Dan Burns

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) -Multiple threats to the global economy topped the worries of the world’s well-heeled at the annual Davos think-fest on Monday, with some flagging the risk of a worldwide recession.

Political and business leaders gathering for the World Economic Forum (WEF) meet against a backdrop of inflation at its highest level in a generation in major economies including the United States, Britain and Europe.

These price rises have undermined consumer confidence and shaken the world’s financial markets, prompting central banks including the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.

Meanwhile, the repercussions on oil and food markets of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February – which Moscow describes as a “special military operation” – and COVID-19 lockdowns in China with no clear end have compounded the gloom.

“We have at least four crises, which are interwoven. We have high inflation … we have an energy crisis… we have food poverty, and we have a climate crisis. And we can’t solve the problems if we concentrate on only one of the crises,” German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said.

“But if none of the problems are solved, I’m really afraid we’re running into a global recession with tremendous effect .. on global stability,” Habeck said during a WEF panel discussion.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month cut its global growth outlook for the second time this year, citing the war in Ukraine and singling out inflation as a “clear and present danger” for many countries.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, speaking in Daos on Monday, said the war, tighter financial conditions and price shocks – for food in particular – have clearly “darkened” the outlook in the month since, though she is not yet expecting a recession.

Asked at a panel whether she expected a recession, Georgieva said: “No, not at this point. It doesn’t mean it is out of the question.”

TIPPING POINT

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde, due to speak in Davos on Tuesday, has warned that growth and inflation are on opposing paths, as mounting price pressures curb economic activity and devastate household purchasing power.

“The Russia-Ukraine war may well prove to be a tipping point for hyper-globalisation,” she said in a blog post on Monday.

“That could lead to supply chains becoming less efficient for a while and, during the transition, create more persistent cost pressures for the economy,” Lagarde added.

Still, she essentially promised rate hikes in both July and September to put a brake on inflation, even if rising borrowing costs are bound to weigh on growth.

“We knew, all knew from Day One that this war was bad economic news. Less growth and more inflation,” French policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said. “This is the price we accepted together to pay to protect our values … It was worth paying this price.”

“I would play down the idea of a short-term trade off between inflation and growth,” he said. “In the short run, our priority is clearly … fighting inflation.”

While the economic drag from the Ukraine crisis is being most keenly felt in Europe, it is the U.S. economy that is experiencing the greatest price pressures.

The Consumer Price Index shot from near zero two years ago to a 40-year high of 8.5% in March. The Fed responded earlier this month with its largest rate hike in 22 years, and Chair Jerome Powell has signalled increases of a similar magnitude – half a percentage point – at its next two meetings at least.

The higher rates and expectations for more, though, have yet to weaken consumer spending and a red-hot U.S. job market.

“We’re not seeing it materialize in our business yet,” Marriott International Inc Chief Executive Anthony Capuano said of the threat of recession, adding: “There continues to be pent-up demand.”

Key emerging markets, including China, are still expected to see growth this year, even if at a slower pace than previously estimated.

Marcos Troyjo, president of the New Development Bank set up by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, said his bank still expects “robust growth” this year in China, India and Brazil.

(Additional reporting by Jessica DiNapoli; Editing by Alexander Smith and Jan Harvey)

By Sarah Mills

LONDON (Reuters) – As Queen Elizabeth celebrates her 70th year on the throne, there are questions about whether the Commonwealth of Nations, which she was instrumental in creating and remains one of her proudest achievements, has a future when her reign is over.

The Commonwealth evolved out of the British empire, and Elizabeth became its head in 1952 when she became queen, three years after the London Declaration formally created the voluntary association in its current form.

Now it is one of world’s biggest international organisations, made up of 54 countries, almost all of which were former colonies of the United Kingdom, covering some 2.5 billion people or about one third of the world’s population.

The 96-year-old queen has always been at its heart, but there are suggestions it has already become outdated and irrelevant.

“I think perhaps the Commonwealth has historically run its course,” said Philip Murphy, professor of British and Commonwealth History at the University of London. “And what you’re really seeing now is the ghost of an organisation.”

Commonwealth members range from wealthy nations such as Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada – who still all have the queen as their head of state – to populous India, as well as tiny Pacific republics such as Nauru.

Supporters say it provides a network to foster international cooperation and trade links, with a focus on promoting democracy and development, and addressing issues such as climate change.

So when Barbados cut its ties with the British monarchy last year when the Caribbean nation became a republic, it was keen to remain part of the Commonwealth.

“The Commonwealth is beneficial to many Caribbean nations as well as many African nations and it links us into countries like Australia and New Zealand and Canada,” said Barbados-based David Denny, general secretary for the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration, a non-government organisation.

The organisation was regarded as playing a significant role in helping to end apartheid in South Africa, and Murphy says it has uses for smaller, less powerful members. But he remains unconvinced of its wider benefit.

“The Commonwealth talks about the importance of promoting democracy, tackling climate change, tackling gender inequality,” he told Reuters. “But the Commonwealth isn’t necessarily a logical framework internationally in which to deal with any of those problems.”

Where the organisation could have a role, Murphy says, is in dealing with the legacy of the British empire and colonialism, with a new purpose of dealing with issues such as reparation and restitution.

‘MASSACRED’

“We were massacred and killed for the economic development of Britain,” Denny said.

“The nation states within the Commonwealth should demand reparation for that sufferation from the royal family, from the British government, all of the British companies that would have benefited from slavery and the exploitation of our African people throughout the Commonwealth nation states.”

Another question the organisation will have to address is who will lead it, with Denny arguing it should not be the British royals, despite Commonwealth leaders agreeing in 2018 that Elizabeth’s son and heir Prince Charles should be her successor although the role is not hereditary.

Charles’s eldest son Prince William, after a difficult tour of the Caribbean nations earlier this year when he faced protests, calls for reparations and an apology for slavery, suggested he might not get the job.

“Who the Commonwealth chooses to lead its family in the future isn’t what is on my mind,” said William. “What matters to us is the potential the Commonwealth family has to create a better future for the people who form it, and our commitment to serve and support as best we can.”

However, in the meantime, there is no question of the importance of the organisation to its current head.

“Today, it is rewarding to observe a modern, vibrant and connected Commonwealth that combines a wealth of history and tradition with the great social, cultural and technological advances of our time,” Queen Elizabeth said in her annual message to the Commonwealth in March.

“That the Commonwealth stands ever taller is a credit to all who have been involved.”

Murphy said he suspected it would survive, but with even less attention that it attracts now.

“I think it will stagger on,” he said. “I don’t see the will to draw a line under it, and I don’t see who would really have the authority to do that. I think the danger is that it will just gradually become less influential, less important and less interesting to its citizens.”

(Reporting by Sarah Mills; writing by Michael Holden; editing by Susan Fenton)

By Christian Kraemer and Francesco Canepa

KOENIGSWINTER, Germany (Reuters) – The Group of Seven’s financial leaders agreed on $9.5 billion in new aid to Ukraine on Friday and promised enough money to keep the country’s devastated economy afloat as long as it fights against Russia’s invasion.

Finance ministers and central bank governors of the United States, Japan, Canada, Britain, Germany, France and Italy – the G7 – said their support for Ukraine in 2022 so far would be $19.8 billion. The German finance ministry clarified the total included $10.3 billion already promised or disbursed earlier.

Of the new money, the United States will provide $7.5 billion in grants, Germany another $1 billion in grants and the remaining $1 billion will be covered by the other G7 countries in the form of guarantees and loans, the German ministry said.

“We will continue to stand by Ukraine throughout this war and beyond and are prepared to do more as needed,” the G7 said in a communique at the end of the two-day meeting outside the German city of Bonn.

Ukraine estimates it needs some $5 billion a month to keep public employees’ salaries paid and the administration working despite the daily destruction wrought by Russia.

On top of the G7 aid, the European Union is to offer 9 billion euros ($9.50 billion) in loans to Ukraine and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Financial Corporation are to offer another $3.4 billion in loans.

The G7 also called for supporting long-term reconstruction and recovery of Ukraine, calling it a “massive joint effort” that will need to be closely coordinated.

Economists’ estimates of the cost of rebuilding Ukraine vary widely between 500 billion euros and 2 trillion euros, depending on the assumptions on the length of the conflict and the scope of destruction.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner told a news conference after the meeting the G7 discussed the possibility of confiscating Russian assets to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine, but there was conclusion yet. “It is an option that still needs to be thought through,” he said.

RUSSIAN ENERGY CURBS

The war has been a game-changer for Western powers, forcing them to rethink decades-old relations with Russia not only in terms of security, but also in energy, food and global supply alliances from microchips to rare earths.

The G7 discussed proposals to reduce Russia’s revenues from energy exports, such as a phased embargo proposed by the European Union, forming a buyers’ cartel to cap prices for Russian crude, and imposing import tariffs on Russian oil.

The latter was floated by U.S. officials as a way of limiting Moscow’s oil profits while keeping Russian crude supplies on the market to avoid price spikes.

“Nothing is really crystallized as an obvious strategy,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said about those talks.

Another G7 official said the pricing caps and tariffs were problematic because producers had little incentive to comply and consumers could end up bearing the brunt of the added costs.

TAMING INFLATION BEAST

G7 policymakers also discussed the global surge in inflation exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, which also brought about a sharp slowdown in economic growth, raising the spectre of stagflation – the dreaded 1970s combination of persistent price increases coupled with economic stagnation.

Lindner said inflation was an enormous risk and had to be brought down towards 2% quickly, while German central bank governor Joachim Nagel said negative interest rates were a thing of the past. The G7 comunique also said rates would go up, though in a way that would not destroy growth.

“G7 central banks… will…calibrate the pace of monetary policy tightening in a data-dependent and clearly communicated manner, ensuring that inflation expectations remain well anchored, while being mindful to safeguard the recovery” the G7 said.

($1 = 0.9472 euros)

(Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski and Leigh Thomas; writing by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)