What to watch from Joe Biden’s trip to the G7

Telfs-Buchen, Austria
CNN
 — 

President Joe Biden may be overseas in the Bavarian Alps, but the political division and sour mood he left behind will be difficult to ignore as he begins this year’s Group of 7 summit.

Rising costs – driven in part by the Russian invasion of Ukraine – will be central to Sunday’s agenda, where leaders will simultaneously work to sustain their pressure on Moscow while also looking for ways to ease price spikes that have cost them each politically.

That could prove a challenging task. Bans on Russian energy have contributed to a spike in global oil prices, yet leaders are loathe to ease up on sanctions they believe are having an effect on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s economy. One area they have announced action: Banning new imports of Russian gold.

“Here at this meeting of the G7, as well as at NATO, we will continue to do, collectively, everything we can to make sure that the Ukrainians have what they need in their hands to repel the Russian aggression,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an exclusive interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

Blinken pointed to the import ban on Russian gold, existing sanctions on Russian oil revenues and international businesses leaving Russia as evidence of the sanctions’ impact. He also cited the fact of the NATO meeting itself – which begins later this week in Madrid – as a testament to Putin failing in his goals.

“When it comes to Putin’s strategic objectives, he’s already failed,” Blinken told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “We’re about to go to a NATO summit, where the alliance is going to show greater unity, greater strength than in my memory.”

At the same time, Biden continues to confront fallout from Friday’s ruling fundamentally altering abortion rights for women in the United States, a decision that’s drawn condemnation from several of his fellow world leaders.

The ruling put into sharp relief the divisions roiling American politics and institutions, which have acted as a worrying subtext for leaders observing Biden’s attempts at restoring American leadership.

Here are several things to watch at this week’s G7 summit:

Biden and fellow G7 leaders were set to discuss ways to punish Russia while still managing an unsteady global economy during their first day of talks Sunday in the Bavarian Alps. The conversations would produce some announcements and “muscle movements,” according to a senior White House official.

“A large focus of the G7 and the leaders are going to be, you know, how to not only manage the challenges in the global economy as a result of Mr. Putin’s war, but how to also continue to hold Mr. Putin accountable and to make sure that he is being subjected to costs and consequences for what he’s doing,” said John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communication at the National Security Council, as Biden was flying to Europe.

Biden’s first engagement…