Brussels: Europe and the Arabs - Agencies
The G7 leaders said in a joint statement following a video summit: “We will continue to increase the cost of Russia’s war, reduce its sources of revenue, and hinder its efforts to build its war machine, as demonstrated by the sanctions packages we recently adopted.”
This meeting is the first meeting of the heads of state and government of the member states of the group, that is, the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, and Canada, under the Italian presidency.
On this occasion, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni went to Kiev, where she chaired the virtual meeting, along with her Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. French President Emmanuel Macron was absent from the meeting, as was Foreign Minister Stephane Ségournet. In a joint statement distributed in Brussels, the leaders said “We, the G7 leaders, gathered today with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to reaffirm our unwavering support for Ukraine and once again salute the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people who are fighting tirelessly for Ukraine’s freedom and democratic future. For two years they have resisted Russia’s large-scale, unlawful, unprovoked and unjustified invasion.” Which constitutes a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter. They have demonstrated their will to defeat President Putin's war machine, restore their country's territorial integrity, and defend Ukraine's sovereignty and independence. President Putin has failed to achieve his strategic goal of subjugating Ukraine. Instead, he is forcing his people to He paid a heavy price for his government's reckless actions every day. He drained Russia's resources to finance an unnecessary war, tore apart Russian families, and claimed hundreds of thousands of Russian lives. We remain convinced that we can ensure the victory of the people of Ukraine in the struggle for their future and help forge a comprehensive, just and lasting peace. On this occasion, we also pay tribute to the extraordinary courage of Alexei Navalny and stand by his wife, children and loved ones. He sacrificed his life fighting against Kremlin corruption and for free and fair elections in Russia. We call on the Russian government to fully clarify the circumstances surrounding his death. We also call on the Russian government to release all unjustly detained prisoners and stop the persecution of political opposition and the systematic suppression of the rights and freedoms of Russians. We will hold those responsible for Navalny's death accountable, including by continuing to impose restrictive measures in response to human rights violations and abuses in Russia and taking other measures. 1. We will continue to support Ukraine's right to self-defense and reiterate our commitment to Ukraine's long-term security, including through the conclusion and implementation of bilateral security commitments and arrangements, on the basis of the Joint Declaration in Support of Ukraine that we endorsed in Vilnius last July. . We are stepping up our security assistance to Ukraine and increasing our production and delivery capabilities to help the country. Ten years after the Maidan protests, we stand with the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people in supporting the foundations of their democratic state through vital reforms, especially to strengthen their judicial system and rule of law, and to tackle corruption. These endeavors form part of Ukraine's path towards Euro-Atlantic integration. We commend Ukraine's achievements to date, and welcome the decision taken by the European Council last December to open accession negotiations with Ukraine. We welcome the progress made by Ukraine towards meeting the terms of the IMF Extended Fund Facility programme. Russia should not succeed in destroying Ukraine's economy to make up for its failures on the battlefield. We will help Ukraine meet its urgent financing needs, and assist other vulnerable countries severely affected by the effects of the Russian war. The EU's approval of a €50 billion facility for Ukraine is very welcome. It will provide critical financial support to Ukraine through 2027. We also welcome the additional economic support agreed upon by others as we seek to close Ukraine's remaining financing gap, as well as Japan's rapid delivery of its budget support in the first quarter of 2024 and new financing from Canada. . We urge approval of additional support to fill the remaining gap in Ukraine's budget for 2024. Reconstructing Ukraine, starting with early recovery measures, remains a key priority. We will continue to work with the Ukrainian authorities and international financial institutions through Ukraine's multi-agency donor coordination platform and by leveraging private investments. We welcome the expansion of the platform to include the Republic of Korea, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands. In addition to the successful Japan-Ukraine conference to promote economic growth and reconstruction, we look forward to the two Ukraine recovery conferences, scheduled to be hosted in Berlin in 2024 and in Rome in 2025. 2. We call on Russia to immediately cease its war of aggression and completely withdraw its military forces The territory of Ukraine is unconditionally recognized internationally. We call on all countries to respect international law and in no way endorse or condone Russia's attempts to seize territory by force. We will never recognize the so-called “elections”, past and future, conducted by Russia on the territory of Ukraine, nor their results. Russia's stated intention to hold voting in its presidential elections in Ukrainian regions constitutes a blatant violation of Ukraine's sovereignty. We strongly condemn Russia's continuing brutal attacks on civilians and vital civilian infrastructure and war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, including sexual violence. We strongly condemn the war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, including sexual violence. We strongly condemn Russia's human rights violations in the territories occupied by Russia. We remain committed to holding accountable those responsible for the atrocities they committed against the people of Ukraine, in line with international law. We support investigations conducted by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, the Prosecutor of Ukraine, and other national prosecutors within their jurisdictions. We welcome the ongoing discussions in the Core Group, which are exploring the possibility of establishing a court for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. We call on Russia to release all people it has unlawfully detained, and for the safe return of all civilians it has unlawfully transferred or deported, starting with thousands of children. We welcome the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, launched by Ukraine and Canada. We also stress the importance of progress towards the exchange of all prisoners of war and welcome efforts in this regard by countries and other partner actors. Finally, we will continue to support displaced Ukrainian refugees and protect those in need. We reiterate our support for the Council of Europe's Damage to Ukraine Register. As Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine continues to undermine global food security, we celebrate Ukraine's success in dramatically expanding its food exports through the Black Sea, which will help feed the world. Thanks to the Ukraine Sea Corridor and EU Solidarity Corridors, Ukraine is on track to export all grain from the 2023 crop despite Russia's attacks on Ukrainian ports and its withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative. We will continue to help Ukraine export grain and agricultural products to the most vulnerable countries, including through the implementation of the Ukraine-led Grain Verification Scheme this year. We call on Russia to stop its efforts to weaponize food supplies and support safe commercial navigation in the Black Sea. Russia's irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, its stance of strategic intimidation, and the undermining of arms control regimes are unacceptable. Russia's threats to use nuclear weapons, let alone any use of nuclear weapons by Russia, in the context of its aggressive war against Ukraine, are unacceptable. 3. We will continue to raise the cost of Russia's war, reduce Russia's revenue sources and hinder its efforts to build its war machine, as demonstrated by the sanctions packages we recently agreed to. We remain committed to fully implementing our sanctions on Russia and adopting new measures as necessary. We continue to confront, in close cooperation with third countries, any attempts to evade and circumvent sanctions and export control measures. We will impose additional sanctions on companies and individuals in third countries who help Russia obtain weapons or key inputs for weapons. We will also impose sanctions on those who help Russia obtain tools and other equipment that aid in Russian weapons production or military industrial development. We will continue to exert significant pressure on Russia's energy and other commodity revenues. We will continue to take steps to tighten compliance and enforce the oil price cap. As we work to maintain supply stability, we will respond to price cap violations, including by imposing additional sanctions measures against those engaged in deceptive practices during the transportation of Russian oil and against networks developed by Russia to extract additional revenue from price cap violations. We will continue to take Steps needed to limit Russian energy revenues in the future. We will continue to obstruct Russia's development of future energy projects and disrupt its development of alternatives to energy charging and other services. We will continue efforts to reduce Russia's mineral revenues. We will continue to take action against third-country actors that materially support Russia's war, including by imposing additional measures on entities, where appropriate, in third countries. We call on financial institutions to refrain from supporting the Russian war machine and will take appropriate steps, including Complies with our legal systems, to deter such behaviour. Financial institutions and other entities that facilitate Russia's acquisition of items or equipment for its defense industrial base support actions that undermine Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence. We strongly condemn North Korea's exports and Russia's purchase of ballistic missiles from North Korea in direct violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and call on it to immediately stop these activities. We call on Iran to stop assisting the Russian army and its war in Ukraine. We express our concern about transfers to Russia from companies in the People's Republic of China of dual-use materials and components for weapons and equipment for military production.
It is not right for Russia to decide whether or when it will pay for the damage it inflicted on Ukraine. These damages now exceed $486 billion, according to the World Bank. Russia's obligations under international law to pay for the damage it causes are clear. We are determined to dispel any false notion that time is on Russia's side, that the destruction of infrastructure and livelihoods will have no consequences for Russia, or that Russia may prevail by causing Ukraine to fail economically. Russia should not be able to delay payment of its dues indefinitely. We recognize the urgent need to disrupt Russia's attempts to destroy the Ukrainian economy and Russia's continued failure to adhere to its obligations under international law. We are determined to ensure full accountability and support Ukraine in obtaining compensation for losses, injuries and damage resulting from Russian aggression. We reaffirm that, consistent with our legal systems,Russian sovereign assets in our jurisdictions will remain frozen until Russia pays for the damage it has inflicted on Ukraine. We welcome the adoption of EU legal measures relating to extraordinary revenues of central securities depositories acquired from frozen Russian sovereign assets and encourage further steps to enable their use, consistent with applicable contractual obligations and in accordance with applicable laws. We ask our ministers to continue their work and update information ahead of the Puglia Summit on all possible ways in which frozen Russian sovereign assets can be used to support Ukraine, consistent with our legal systems and international law. 4. As we move forward, we continue our support for Ukraine in further developing President Zelensky’s peace formula and are committed to supporting a comprehensive, just and lasting peace that is consistent with the principles of the UN Charter and international law and respects Ukraine’s sovereignty and territory. integrity. As Ukraine enters the third year of this relentless war, its government and people can count on the support of the G7, whatever it takes.