Speaking by videoconference at the meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged “doing everything” possible to end the war before the end of the year and avoid “the harshness of winter” that makes fighting more difficult.
Zelensky, who will also participate in the NATO summit in Madrid on Tuesday, also called on the leaders of the seven powers – the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Canada – to “intensify sanctions” against Russia.
Meanwhile, to reinforce military assistance, the United States plans to supply Ukraine with a sophisticated “medium and long-range” surface-to-air missile system, a source from the Joe Biden administration said yesterday.
“It is possible that the United States will announce this week the purchase for Ukraine of a NASAMS system” (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System), the source said.
Alert for Kaliningrad
That, added to Lithuania’s decision to cut off land communication between Russia and its extraterritorial enclave of Kaliningrad – nestled between that country, Poland and the Baltic Sea – could immediately lead to an escalation of the conflict.
Zelensky refuses to negotiate peace with Russia now because, in the current context, he should resign himself to handing over all of eastern and southern Ukraine, given the invader’s recent advance. This goes against the apparent intentions of French President Emmanuel Macron, who has also received a stern warning against British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
“We are committed to helping Ukraine end Russia’s war, maintain its sovereignty and territorial integrity, defend itself and choose its future,” the G7 final statement says. “We continue to condemn the brutal, unprovoked and unjustifiable aggression against Ukraine by Russia, with the help of Belarus,” the document expands, which ends up burying the claim of Paris.
Energy in sight
France and other countries are concerned about the economic consequences of the conflict, which are causing an inflationary spiral and bringing the specter of a recession closer, for the worse with no sign of a solution. Given this, an official from the Elysée Palace – the seat of the French presidency – indicated that the international community should explore all options to ease the Russian restriction on energy supplies, including talks with producing countries such as Iran and Venezuela.
Venezuela has been under US oil sanctions since 2019 and could return to the market if those restrictions were lifted. Meanwhile, indirect talks between Iran and the United States to revive a nuclear deal, which could lead to the lifting of sanctions on Tehran and the resumption of its oil exports, have been suspended since March, but will be reactivated in Doha in the coming months. days.
“There is a knot that needs to be untied if appropriate for Iranian oil to return to the market,” the official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We have Venezuelan oil that must also return to the market,” he added.
Violence
These G7 talks came a day after Ukraine suffered the first Russian attack on its capital in three weeks, with missiles hitting a residential building, killing one person. Meanwhile, a shopping center was attacked yesterday (see photo) and the Kremlin forces consolidate their conquests in the east, where the conquest of the entire separatist and Russian-speaking region of Lugansk seems within reach.
Source: Ambito
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