US refuses to call Russia an aggressor in G7 statement
21 February 2025 13:24
The United States opposes calling Russia the aggressor in the war with Ukraine in a G7 statement being prepared for the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. This was reported by the New York Times, citing four senior officials of the member states, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
American objections to the text of the statement came after President Trump accused Ukraine of war earlier this week.
“You should have ended this three years ago – you should never have started it. You could have come to an agreement,”
– the US President said earlier, addressing the Ukrainian side.
One senior G7 official said that Canada, which currently holds the presidency of the grouping, had circulated a first draft of the statement to the other six member states. This version, according to the official, used language that preserved the pro-Ukrainian stance of the alliance group, which was adopted after the full-scale Russian invasion.
The American side reviewed this first draft this week and removed all references that could be interpreted as pro-Ukrainian, the official said. The result, he added, was a neutral draft statement that makes no mention of Russia as an aggressor in the conflict, nor of Ukraine as a victim of the invasion.
The Americans also wanted to remove passages that described the invasion as a violation of sovereignty, one official said.
Another senior G7 official added that drafting and negotiations on the text could continue until Monday, when it is scheduled to be published.
Similarly, it has not yet been decided whether G7 leaders meeting virtually on Monday will invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to participate, as they did last year, the official said.
The interlocutors emphasized that the G7 project is not complete, but also noted that it is important to develop a mutually agreed statement, which is never easy and always requires “careful word choice.”
The US explains its position by saying that this statement should not interfere with the negotiations that the Americans have begun with Russia.
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What will the statement say?
Diplomats continue to work on the wording of the draft, which currently describes “the devastating war that began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine” but does not use the words “Russian aggression” or “aggressors,” which have been in G7 statements since 2022, according to senior German and European officials.
The current draft currently states that strong security guarantees and Ukraine’s integration into the European Union “will be critical to ensuring a lasting peace that prevents future aggression.”
Negotiations are ongoing, so the final wording is yet to be determined.
The G7 foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Quebec from March 12 to 14. The leaders are scheduled to meet in Alberta in mid-June.
The last time Canada held the G7 presidency, during Trump’s first term in 2018, the president left the summit in Quebec and withdrew his support for the final joint communiqué, angry at its language on trade.
