US opposes joint G7 statement on further support for Ukraine, Politico reports
The U.S. objected to the inclusion of clauses on "further support" for Ukraine in a joint statement during the meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers in Canada, Politico reported on May 21, citing two undisclosed officials.
Canada, chairing the G7 group this year, is hosting a meeting of G7 finance ministers this week. The summit is a precursor to the main meeting of the G7 heads of state, which will take place on June 15-17.
Washington also refused to label Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine as "illegal" in the text, according to sources who spoke to Politico.
This is not the first time that the U.S. has blocked joint G7 statements in support of Ukraine and condemning Russia's war.
Washington previously did not support a joint statement condemning Russia's deadly attack on Sumy, which killed 35 people and injured 119 on Palm Sunday on April 13. The Trump administration also opposed a joint statement on the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale war and vetoed a proposal for a task force tracking the Russian "shadow fleet" of tankers.
Since taking office in January, Trump has upended years of U.S. foreign policy on the Russia-Ukraine war, resuming direct contact with Moscow while exerting pressure on Kyiv by pushing for a peace agreement with Russia on conditions favorable to the Kremlin.
During the recent talks in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine on May 16, Moscow continued to press its demands for full control over the four partially occupied Ukrainian oblasts and the Crimean peninsula, as well as Ukraine's abandonment of its aspirations to join NATO.
Reacting to the Russian side's demands, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine would never withdraw troops from its own territories.
Chris York
