G7 Emergency Meeting on Ukraine: A Unified Show Against Russia

As Putin illegally annexes four regions of Ukraine in breach of international law and ups his threatening nuclear narrative while the energy crisis continues relentlessly, international concern around the fallout of the Ukrainian war has risen to new heights.

Earlier this week, this concern reached a tipping point as Russia rained missiles on Ukrainian towns, Kyiv included. Putin claims this is an act of retaliation for the sabotage of the bridge linking Crimea to Russia.

Yesterday, in an urgent response to the 48 hours of deadly missile strikes, the G7 countries immediately called an emergency meeting with Ukraine to discuss the war’s latest developments, the further support that’s required from the international community, and the need for solidarity in their approach going forward.

Though there has been widespread condemnation and sanctioning of Russian forces, as well as many efforts to provide humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine, this unified show of strength from the world’s leading democracies is also vital.

The group of seven; Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, will now focus on collectively tackling the rapid escalation in Russian offensive and meet to agree on an allied modus operandi.

The meeting comes after many Russian missile attacks were carried out on major cities across Ukraine including Kyiv and recently annexed Zaporizhzhia, on Monday at rush hour – killing dozens and injuring hundreds – leaving many without power or methods of communication.

Russia claims the attacks are in retaliation to the bombing of the Kerch bridge that connects the Crimean peninsula to Russia – an attack that the Kremlin says was carried out by the Ukrainian military.

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy believes the strikes were primarily targeting his country’s infrastructure and people, a rapid escalation in Russian military activity now seemingly shifting focus from military to civilian targets – a move which the UN warns could constitute a war crime.

Missile attacks by #Russian armed forces yesterday on #Ukrainian cities were particularly shocking because of location & timing 👉 when people were commuting to work and taking children to school.

At least 12 civilians died and more than 100 were injured: https://t.co/iYHghBri3H pic.twitter.com/aY8IRuQCZs

— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) October 11, 2022

In light of this, as well as the ongoing gas shortages and resultant soaring energy prices, the main focus of the emergency G7 summit yesterday was to “reiterate the unity of opposition to Putin’s continued brutality in Ukraine” and protect both the people of Ukraine as well as the stability of the global economy.

They aimed to address how together the G7 and other countries can maintain and scale-up their humanitarian and military support for Ukraine. They also addressed their commitment to ensuring energy security and affordability.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to the G7 world leaders to help to build an “air shield” against Russia.

“When Ukraine receives a sufficient quantity of modern and effective air defence systems, the key element of Russia’s terror, rocket strikes, will cease to work,” said Zelenskyy.

In an urgent appeal to the G7 leaders, President Zelenskyy thanked the group for their ongoing support in the form of aid and sanctions, but also reiterated that further help is required if Ukraine is to be able to protect itself from the increasing threat posed by Russian airstrikes and Iranian-made drones.

In another push for Ukraine’s so-called “peace formula” Zelenskyy urged the leaders to forget about negotiating a diplomatic resolution with Putin – which he deems impossible at present – and instead focus global resources on stifling Russia’s economic and political lifelines by imposing more punitive sanctions on their energy sector – an industry which provides a large part of their warfare’s financial fuel.

Zelenskyy clearly stated to the world powers that “Russia must be completely isolated and punished.”

The G7 leaders’ resulting manifesto

All seven nations of the G7 have condemned Russia’s actions since their invasion of Ukraine, with many providing both humanitarian and military support packages to Zelenskyy’s military since February this year.

In yesterday’s joint statement from the G7, they reaffirmed their full support for Ukraine, condemned Russia in stating that they have “blatantly violated the principles enshrined in the UN Charter,” and called out for global backup in demanding Russia cease hostilities.

“We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms and recall that indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilian populations constitute a war crime. We will hold President Putin and those responsible to account,” said the group.

They also denounced Russia’s partial mobilization of reservists; their sham referenda and illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions; their actions at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant; and their “irresponsible nuclear rhetoric,” which the G7 claim is putting global peace and security at risk and will be met with “severe consequences.”

“We reaffirm that any use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons by Russia would be met with severe consequences,” warned the G7 leaders.

They called upon all countries to “unequivocally reject these violations of international law,” and promised more sanctions on Russia and collaborating entities such as Belarus.

The group also reassured President Zelenskyy that they are “undeterred and steadfast” in their commitment to providing continued “financial, humanitarian, military, diplomatic and legal support and will stand firmly with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

They concluded the part in their statement relating to Ukraine by reiterating:

“No country wants peace more than Ukraine, whose people have suffered death, displacement and countless atrocities as the result of Russian aggression.”