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KRUEN. — Leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) industrial nations backed a tough line toward Moscow at the start of a summit in the Bavarian Alps, with US President Barack Obama urging the gathering to stand up to Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Obama said leaders would discuss the global economy, trade partnerships and “standing up to Russian aggression in Ukraine”, as well as threats from violent extremism and climate change.

Both he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel highlighted the importance of the German-American relationship, damaged in recent years by revelations of US spying in Germany, including the bugging of the chancellor’s mobile phone.

“My message to the German people is simple: We are grateful for your friendship, for your leadership,” said Obama, using the traditional Bavarian greeting “Gruess Gott” with a crowd gathered in the village square in Kruen. “We stand together as inseparable allies in Europe and around the world.”

Merkel alluded to “differences” but described the US as “our friend” and an “essential partner”.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and European Council President Donald Tusk both said they hoped the G7 would present a united front on sanctions toward Russia.

EU leaders agreed in March that sanctions imposed over Russia’s intervention in Ukraine would stay until the Minsk ceasefire agreement was fully implemented, effectively extending them to the end of the year, but a formal decision has yet to be taken.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is known to be skeptical about sanctions and left-wing politicians in Germany have also called for them to be removed.

Leaders and reporters were shuttled to the summit site by helicopter yesterday morning as hundreds of protesters blocked the main road to Schloss Elmau.

On Saturday, thousands of anti-G7 protesters marched in the nearby town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

There were sporadic clashes with police and several marchers were taken to hospital with injuries, but the violence was minor compared to some previous summits.

Germany deployed 17 000 police around the former Winter Olympic games venue at the foot of Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze. Another 2 000 were on stand-by across the border in Austria. — Reuters.