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Rishi Sunak will announce a ban on Russian diamonds coming to Britain as the prime minister and other G7 leaders step up sanctions against Putin.

The diamond ban is part of a wider package of sanctions as the prime minister and allies use the annual G7 summit in Tokyo to redouble support for Ukraine.

Sanctions will also extend to imports of Russian-origin copper, aluminium and nickel, as well as the freeze on the $4bn (£3.2bn) diamond export market.

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The UK is also sanctioning a further 86 individuals and companies from Putin’s military industrial complex.

Prime Minsiter Rishi Sunak preps for meetings at the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower during a visit to Tokyo ahead of G7 Summit.  
Pic:10 Downing Street
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Mr Sunak is in Japan for the G7

“Sanctions imposed on Russia by the UK and G7 partners are having a clear and progressive impact in downgrading Putin’s war effort,” the prime minister said.

“The G7 remains unified in the face of the threat from Russia and steadfast in support for Ukraine.”

The prime minister‘s spokesman said the government was expecting all G7 partners to announce sanctions over the weekend in a show of strength against Moscow.

But while the G7 are in lockstep in their approach to Ukraine, the matter of handling an ever-aggressive China – which alongside Ukraine and the global economy is the third policy pillar of this summit – has been a more complicated and contested policy area for the G7.

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Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida has repeatedly warned that “Ukraine might be Russia tomorrow” as he looks to allies to signal strong support over how to tackle China and the risk of Beijing trying to invade Taiwan.

President Biden has committed to defending Taiwan, but this issue has divided allies, with France President Emmanuel Macron saying on a trip to China last month that Europe should not get “caught up in crises that are not ours.”

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Russian metals will also be impacted

The expectation in Hiroshima is that allies can agree language that bridges this divide.

European Commission President Ursula von de Leyen will come up with a formulation it is hoped allies can agree on – that the G7 will focus on “de-risking” rather than “de-coupling” – in other words continuing to engage with China in areas such as trade and climate change, while pursuing policies to protect national security risks.

The expectation is that the G7 will come out of the summit with a united and strong front on Russia and China.

The big unknown of the weekend will be whether they can tilt some of the global south – countries such as Brazil, India and Indonesia – who have been more aligned with Russia and China towards the allies’ standpoint.

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Rishi Sunak’s G7 plan

Watch too to see if more might be said about longer-term security guarantees for Ukraine once the war is ended.

The prime minister told us on the flight to Japan that the UK wanted to put such arrangements into place “to provide Ukraine with deterrence in the future”.

Whereas Boris Johnson and Donald Trump were often flies in the ointment and at odds with fellow allies, Mr Sunak is trying to lead from the front on the world stage, and he seems to be getting a much warmer reception in Japan than he does at home.

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COP30: Countries reach draft deal to help speed up climate action

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COP30: Countries reach draft deal to help speed up climate action

Countries attending COP30, the biggest climate meeting of the year, have agreed steps to help speed up climate action, according to a draft deal.

The meeting of leaders in the Brazilian city of Belem also saw them agree to reviewing related trade barriers and triple the money given to developing countries to help them withstand extreme weather events, according to the draft.

However, the summit’s president Correa do Lago said “roadmaps” on fossil fuels and forests would be published as there was no consensus on these issues.

The annual United Nations conference brings together world leaders, scientists, campaigners, and negotiators from across the globe, who agree on collective next steps for tackling climate change.

The two-week conference in the Amazon city of Belem was due to end at 6pm local time (9pm UK time) on Friday, but it dragged into overtime.

The standoff was between the EU, which pressed for language on transitioning away from fossil fuels, and the Arab Group of nations, including major oil exporter Saudi Arabia, which opposed it.

The impasse was resolved following all-night negotiations led by Brazil, negotiators said.

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The European Union’s climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, said on Saturday that the proposed accord was acceptable, even though the bloc would have liked more.

“We should support it because at least it is going in the right direction,” he said.

The Brazilian presidency scheduled a closing plenary session.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and about 80 countries, including the UK and coal-rich Colombia, had been pushing for a plan on how to “transition away from fossil fuels”.

This is a pledge all countries agreed to two years ago at COP28 – then did very little about since.

But scores of countries – including major oil and gas producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia – see this push as too prescriptive or a threat to their economies.

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Israel launches strikes on Gaza in further test of fragile ceasefire

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Israel launches strikes on Gaza in further test of fragile ceasefire

Israel says it has begun striking Hamas targets in Gaza, reportedly killing at least nine people, after what it called a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement”.

Local health authorities in Gaza said there had been three separate airstrikes, one hit a car in the densely populated Rimal neighbourhood, killing five people and wounding several others.

Shortly after the attack on the car, the Israeli air force hit two more targets in the central Gaza Strip, medics said.

They said at least four people died when two houses were struck in Deir Al-Balah city and Nuseirat camp.

The Israeli military said there had been a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement”.

It claimed a gunman had crossed into Israeli-held territory after exploiting “the humanitarian road in the area through which humanitarian aid enters southern Gaza”.

A Hamas official rejected the Israeli military’s allegations as baseless, calling them an “excuse to kill”, adding the Palestinian group was committed to the ceasefire agreement.

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The Israeli airstrikes are a further test of a fragile ceasefire with Hamas, which has held since 10 October following the two-year Gaza war.

Israel pulled back its troops, and the flow of aid into the territory has increased. But violence has not completely halted.

Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces have killed 316 people in strikes on Gaza since the truce.

Meanwhile, Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire began and it has attacked scores of militants.

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Europe scrambles for counter-proposal to US-Russian plan for Ukraine

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Europe scrambles for counter-proposal to US-Russian plan for Ukraine

The fast-moving developments on Trump’s Ukraine peace deal are dominating the G20 summit in South Africa, as European leaders scramble to put together a counter-proposal to the US-Russia 28-point plan and reinsert Ukraine into these discussions.

European countries are now working up proposals to put to President Trump ahead of his deadline of Thursday to agree a deal.

Ukraine is in a tight spot. It cannot reject Washington outright – it relies on US military support to continue this war – but neither can it accept the terms of a deal that is acutely favourable to Russia, requiring Ukraine to give up territory not even occupied by Moscow and reducing its army.

Overnight, the UK government has reiterated its position that any deal must deliver a “just and lasting peace”.

Ukraine war latest: Kyiv to discuss ending war in talks in Switzerland

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Keir Starmer calls for growth plan at G20

The prime minister, who spoke with E3 allies President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the phone on Friday, is having more conversations today with key partners as they work out how to handle Trump and improve this deal for Ukraine.

One diplomatic source told me allies are being very careful not to criticise Trump or his approach for fear of exacerbating an already delicate situation.

Instead, the prime minister is directing his attacks at Russia.

Read more:
Trump’s 28-point Ukraine peace plan in full
Analysis: We could all pay if Europe doesn’t guarantee Ukraine’s security

Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders' Summit. Pic: Reuters
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Pic: Reuters

“There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians,” he said on Friday evening.

“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but its actions never live up to its words.”

Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

On the Trump plan, the prime minister said allies are meetin on Saturday “to discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.

Strengthening the plan really means that they want to rebalance it towards Ukraine’s position and make it tougher on Russia.

“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” said the prime minister.

“We will continue to coordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that. However, we cannot simply wait for peace.

“We must strain every sinew to secure it. We must cut off Putin’s finance flows by ending our reliance on Russian gas. It won’t be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”

Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

Europeans hadn’t even seen this deal earlier in the week, in a sign that the US is cutting other allies out of negotiations – for now at least.

Starmer and other European leaders want to get to a position where Ukraine and Europe are at least at the table.

There is some discussion about whether European leaders such as Macron and Meloni might travel to Washington to speak to Trump early next week in order to persuade him of the European and Ukrainian perspective, as leaders did last August following the US-Russian summit in Alaska.

But Sky News understands there are no discussions about the PM travelling to Washington next week ahead of the budget.

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