The Group of Seven (G7), which comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and US, issued a joint statement blasting Russia’s ongoing military action in Ukraine on Sunday. Moscow was expelled from the collective, then known as the G8, in 2014.
The seven nations vowed to never let Moscow win the “war against Ukraine” and pledged further military and economic support for Kiev.
“We remain united in our resolve that President Putin must not win his war against Ukraine,” the joint statement reads. The document, issued on May 8 – the day most Western nations celebrate the end of WWII in Europe and victory over Nazism – said the G7 nations owe support for Ukraine in “the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War.”
The G7 accused President Vladimir Putin of bringing “shame on Russia and the historic sacrifices of its people,” as well as violating “the international rules-based order.”
The seven world leaders who took part in Sunday’s summit, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, vowed to provide further financial aid to Ukraine to support both its immediate needs and “long-term recovery and reconstruction.”
The statement says that $24 billion has already been provided and pledged to Ukraine by the international community, while praising the assistance programs launched by the World Bank and the IMF.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged an additional $50 million in military assistance for Ukraine, and said Ottawa would temporarily lift all trade tariffs on Ukrainian imports.
Further military aid has also been promised. “We will pursue our ongoing military and defense assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, continue supporting Ukraine in defending its networks against cyber incidents, and expand our cooperation, including on information security,” the statement reads, without providing further details.
Apart from that, the Group of Seven also announced a set of measures designed to limit Russia’s access to “financial channels and ability to pursue their objectives,” committing to phasing out “dependency on Russian energy” and “phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil,” although no specific deadline has been set.
Other measures include further restrictions on Russian banks and the financial sector, and personal sanctions against Russian “elites” and their family members deemed to be close to Putin or who support him. The seven nations also vowed to “continue … efforts to fight off the Russian regime’s attempts to spread its propaganda,” and said that “respectable companies” should not provide “revenue to the Russian regime or its affiliates.”
Washington issued its own statement outlining a new round of sanctions on Moscow. The US placed three major Russian broadcasters – Channel One, Russia 1, and NTV – on its blacklist, imposed additional export controls on Russia’s industrial sector, and imposed personal restrictions on around 2,600 Russian and Belarusian officials that the US accuses of “undermining sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine.”
Russia attacked the neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.