The trade ministers of the G7 will be meeting at Schloss Neuhardenberg (Neuhardenberg Palace) in Brandenburg from 14 to 15 September 2022 at the invitation of Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Dr Robert Habeck.

Prior to the meeting of the G7 trade ministers, Minister Habeck said: "Russia has been waging a war of aggression against Ukraine for more than 200 days now. Russia’s brutality, the attacks against civilians, death, suffering and misery are more than depressing. In these times, we need to stand united together at international level and act in solidarity with Ukraine. Unity and solidarity of the G7 trade ministers thus continue to be more important than ever for Ukraine. The G7 trade ministers stand united together supporting Ukraine in solidarity, and they stand united together supporting the international sanctions imposed against Russia.

"Russia’s war of aggression has again made clear how important it is to overcome unilateral dependencies. It is a key task to diversify trade relations: the COVID pandemic, the impact of climate change and geoeconomic tensions also show us how important it is that trade relations are based on a broad footing. We therefore need courage and resolve to take a strategic new direction in trade policy. Global trade has to be designed sensibly, with clear rules which contribute to preventing unilateral dependencies and strengthening resilience. And in particular we need to reconcile trade and sustainability. These are the issues which we will be discussing at this G7 meeting."

During their meeting today and tomorrow, the G7 trade ministers will be dealing with a number of current trade-policy issues. The first day of the meeting will focus on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its impact on trade, as well as the economic situation in Ukraine. Ms Yulia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, will be guest of honour at the dinner of the G7 ministers to exchange views on the measures taken by the G7.

On the second day of the conference, the G7 ministers will be discussing further challenges in global trade related to the geoeconomic tensions. These include strengthening supply chains and making them more resilient, modernising the multilateral trading system, and handling distortions of competition and economic coercion.