By Kathryn Carlson

Copyright politico

The G7 is under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to take greater action on Moscow to force Russian President Vladimir Putin into Ukraine peace talks.

The U.S. sent a paper to other G7 countries earlier this month calling for 100 percent tariffs on China and India, stricter sanctions on Russian oil and gas, and new moves to use the Russian frozen assets to fund Ukraine.

The EU and the U.K. have since put forward proposals to use Russian cash frozen in their territories to fund loans to Ukraine. And Brussels has come forward with a new sanctions package.

The loans plan is controversial, raising questions over whether it is compatible with international law. Champagne would not give details of the G7 discussions, but he said the group is trying to be “coordinated” in its actions.

“There are different initiatives, but … there is a desire to coordinate amongst ourselves and adopt a similar set of policies in action,” he said.

Asked whether Canada could propose its own reparations loan plan, Champagne said “we’re very aligned.”