The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized countries expressed their support for Ukraine on November 26 in the final statement following their summit in Italy. They also condemned what they described as Russia's "irresponsible and threatening nuclear rhetoric."
Ukraine Invasion: News & Analysis
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
The G7 ministers’ statement also warned that North Korean support for Russia marked a dangerous expansion of the war, condemning the development and saying Russia’s procurement of North Korean ballistic missiles and munitions was a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
“We stand firm against Russia’s war of aggression. We vehemently condemn the brutal attacks against Ukraine’s cities and critical civilian infrastructure and its unacceptable toll on the civilian population,” the minister said in a joint statement at the conclusion of their two-day meeting.
The foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States noted Russia’s use of an intermediate range ballistic missile on November 21, saying it is “further evidence of its reckless and escalatory behavior.” They also said their support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence “will remain unwavering.”
The ministers, who were joined by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha and the EU’s foreign policy chief at their meeting in Fiuggi, a spa town southeast of Rome, added that they hoped to start distributing a $50 billion loan package stemming from frozen Russian assets by the end of the year.
They also pledged to act against groups helping Russia to evade sanctions and called on China, a long-standing ally of North Korea, to act against the deployment of North Korean troops to the battlefield.
The ministers also tried to raise the pressure on Israel to accept a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying "now is the time to conclude a diplomatic settlement."
They called on the Israeli government to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
"We express our strongest condemnation for the rise in extremist settler violence committed against Palestinians, which undermines security and stability in the West Bank and threatens prospects for a lasting peace," the statement added.