Following a virtual meeting on Thursday, the world leaders of the G7 released a joint statement condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin for his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“President Putin has re-introduced war to the European continent,” the statement read. “He has put himself on the wrong side of history.”
According to the White House, the meeting participants were U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan, United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Council Charles Michel, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The leaders met for just over one hour, from 9:17 a.m. ET to 10:27 a.m. ET.
In the statement, the G7 leaders wrote that the invasion “constitutes a serious violation of international law” and “we as the G7 are bringing forward severe and coordinated economic and financial sanctions.”
“This unprovoked and completely unjustified attack on the democratic state of Ukraine was preceded by fabricated claims and unfounded allegations,” it read. “This crisis is a serious threat to the rules-based international order, with ramifications well beyond Europe. There is no justification for changing internationally recognised borders by force. This has fundamentally changed the Euro-Atlantic security situation. President Putin has re-introduced war to the European continent. He has put himself on the wrong side of history.”
In the statement, the G7 leaders called out Belarus’ involvement in the “aggression against Ukraine” and asked that they abide by their “international obligations.”
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“We call on the Russian Federation to stop the bloodshed, to immediately de-escalate and to withdraw its forces from Ukraine,” the statement continued. “We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders and territorial waters as well as the right of any sovereign state to determine its own future and security arrangements. We reaffirm that illegally occupied Crimea and the self-declared ‘people’s republics’ are an integral part of Ukraine.”
The leaders mentioned that Putin has consistently refused to engage in a diplomatic process to answer questions surrounding European security. The leaders wrote in the statement that they are willing “to do what is necessary to preserve the integrity of the rules-based international order” and “in this regard, we are also closely monitoring global oil and gas market conditions, including in the context of Russia’s further military aggression against Ukraine.”
President Biden is scheduled to deliver remarks regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at 1:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.
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