G7 leaders slam Putin, vow to denounce Russian energy in talks with Ukraine’s Zelensky

Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of Ukraine has brought shame on Russia and the sacrifices made by its people to defeat Nazi Germany in World War II, G7 leaders said in a statement commemorating the 77th anniversary of the conclusion of the worldwide struggle.

The declaration, issued during a video conference between the G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, was intended as a rallying cry by liberal democracies ahead of Russia’s May 9 Victory Day celebration in Moscow.

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The G7 statement said, “Through its invasion of and actions in Ukraine since 2014, Russia has violated the international rules-based order, particularly the UN charter, conceived after the second world war to spare successive generations from the scourge of war.

“President Putin and his regime now chose to invade Ukraine in an unprovoked war of aggression against a sovereign country. His actions bring shame on Russia and the historic sacrifices of its people,” the statement said.

The leaders also accused him of launching “an attack on feeding the world” if he did not follow international law and lift the restriction on Ukrainian food exports.

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Since the beginning of the conflict, the G7 has provided Ukraine with over $24 billion in financial and material assistance.

Separately, in a televised speech to the German people, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany would not be immobilised by fear and would not allow Russia to dictate the terms of any peace settlement in Ukraine.

The G7 leaders pledged in a joint statement that they will end their collective reliance on Russian energy “in a timely and orderly way,” but no specific date was agreed upon, highlighting Europe’s ongoing disagreements about how quickly such a phaseout can be achieved.

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The G7 statement clarified Ukraine’s ultimate goal as “to ensure full withdrawal of Russia’s military forces and equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine and to secure its ability to protect itself in the future.”

In his contribution to the G7 conference, Boris Johnson pushed his counterparts to provide the Ukrainians with “military equipment that allowed them to not just hold ground in Ukraine, but recapture it,” according to Downing Street.

According to a Downing Street official, Johnson “agreed with G7 leaders that the world must intensify economic pressure on Putin in any way possible, and said the west must not allow the war to turn into a stalemate that only magnified suffering.”

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Johnson also asked his G7 counterparts to “intensify their diplomatic lobbying of counterparts failing to apply pressure on President Putin’s war machine,” according to the PM’s office.

Diplomatic talks in Brussels continued on Sunday to try to win EU-wide agreement on a schedule for phasing out Russian energy, but the discussions were regarded as difficult. Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic have been granted permission to continue importing Russian oil until the end of 2024, but they also want assistance in locating other energy sources and upgrading their refineries.

Budapest wants a five-year transition period away from Russian oil and energy.