On the first day of the G-7 meeting in Elmau, Bavaria, Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized the united stance of the seven leading Western industrialized countries.

"We are united by our view of the world, our belief in democracy and the rule of law," said Scholz after the first working meeting of the heads of state and government.

France Wittenbrink

Editor in Politics.

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In international relations you have to work closely together - and actually talk to each other, said the Chancellor.

"The G 7 are a good community for developing common answers to the challenges of our time," said Scholz.

You have to act both resolutely and in a united manner, "both belong together".

The G7, the EU and NATO have stood together in support of Ukraine from the start.

"One can say with certainty that Putin did not expect this and that it is giving him a headache," said Scholz.

How brutal Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine is has only just become apparent again.

Rocket attacks on Kyiv

Shortly before the start of the meeting at Schloss Elmau, the Ukrainian capital Kyiv was again the target of Russian attacks on Sunday morning after three weeks.

According to the Ukrainian police, a building in the city center is said to have been hit by a rocket.

Several people were injured.

"This shows that it is right that we stand together and support the Ukrainians in defending their country," said Scholz.

The Chancellor emphasized that he had already discussed this with American President Joe Biden "very carefully".

In the assessment of Ukraine, everyone agreed that Germany and the USA would always act together.

That has been the case from the beginning and will remain so in the future, said the Chancellor.

The same applies to the economic issues that would be discussed at the summit.

Host Scholz had welcomed the participants of the three-day meeting a few hours before his statement at Schloss Elmau, after he had met the American President for bilateral talks before the official start of the summit.

Biden also emphasized the great unity of the West and the close German-American partnership.

After the meeting, the White House said that Biden had welcomed Germany's "historic commitment" to significantly increase defense spending during the bilateral talks.

Biden and Scholz underlined that they would continue to provide military, economic, humanitarian and diplomatic support to Ukraine.

During the subsequent, first working meeting on Sunday afternoon, the heads of state and government discussed the global economic situation against the background of rising energy prices.

All G-7 countries are "concerned about the crises that we are currently dealing with," Scholz said after the meeting.

In some countries, this is about declining growth rates, rising inflation, shortages of raw materials or disruptions to the supply chains.

In order to master these challenges, you have to “take responsibility together,” says Scholz.

He is "very, very, very confident that this summit will send a very clear signal of unity and decisive action".

This also means that it is possible to tackle risks in a coordinated manner and to be able to mobilize investments and supply chains together.

He was happy that there was so much time for talks and discussions at the meeting at Schloss Elmau, "far removed from formalized processes, so that everyone says what is on their hearts," said Scholz.

At the first meeting it worked well, he emphasized.

If things continue like this, then the meeting of the G7 will result in "a coordinated policy of the economically strong democracies".

Scholz: Develop security architecture

The heads of state and government then wanted to discuss closer cooperation on infrastructure and investments on Sunday afternoon.

According to Scholz, it should be about infrastructure for ports, railway connections or electricity on the one hand - but also on infrastructure that is related to the issue of global health.

According to Scholz, Corona has clearly shown that pandemics of this type can only be fought together.

The third and last sitting of the first day of the summit on Sunday evening was primarily to deal with further action on the subject of sanctions against Russia, but also with other foreign and security policy issues.

Scholz spoke of a "very confidential" and "very detailed" conversation that the heads of state and government were expecting.

It's about working on a security architecture for a world "that ensures peace and doesn't become more and more dangerous and risky," says Scholz.