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‘As long as it takes’: G7 backs Ukraine
The announcement came after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, addressing G7 leaders at their summit via a video link, asked for weapons and air defences to gain the upper hand in the war against Russia within months.
The Group of Seven nations on Monday vowed to stand with Ukraine “for as long as it takes”, promising to tighten the squeeze on Russia’s finances with new sanctions that include a proposal to cap the price of Russian oil.
The announcement came after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, addressing G7 leaders at their summit via a video link, asked for weapons and air defences to gain the upper hand in the war against Russia within months.
The G7 statement aimed to signal that its members were ready to back Ukraine for the long haul, at a time when soaring inflation and energy shortages - fuelled by Russia’s invasion - have tested the West’s sanctions resolve. “We will continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
The G7 countries said they were ready to provide security commitments in a post-war settlement while stressing, after Ukraine had earlier voiced misgivings, that it was up to Kyiv to decide a future peace deal with Russia. The G7 countries said they had also pledged or were ready to grant up to $29.5 billion for Ukraine.
G7 nations, which generate nearly half the world’s economic output, want to crank up pressure on Russia without stoking already soaring inflation that is causing strains at home and savaging the global south.
The expanded sanctions would also target Russia’s revenue stream from gold exports, Moscow’s military production and officials installed by Moscow in areas of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces.
The US also said it was finalising a weapons package for Ukraine that would include long-range air-defence systems - arms that Zelensky specifically requested when he addressed the leaders by a video link.
Ten killed in Russian missile strike on mall
At least 10 people were killed in a Russian missile strike on a shopping mall in Kremenchuk in central Ukraine on Monday, regional governor Dmytro Lunin said. Lunin, the governor of the Poltava region, told Reuters that 40 others had been wounded.
“It’s useless to hope for decency and humanity from Russia,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
Russian shelling also continued in and around the eastern city of Lysychansk, after Russian forces at the weekend took full control of its twin city and industrial hub Severodonetsk following weeks of fierce fighting.
Putin to visit Tajikistan and Turkmenistan
President Vladimir Putin is making his first public foreign trip since Russia sent troops into Ukraine, heading for two former Soviet republics and meetings likely to be friendly.
Ahead of the trip beginning Tuesday to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, there were no expectations of significant developments.
