The G7 warned in a statement on Sunday (December 12) that if President Vladimir Putin attacks Ukraine, Russia will face huge consequences and serious costs.
US intelligence agencies assessed that Russia may plan a multi-line attack on Ukraine as early as next year, involving as many as 175,000 soldiers.
The Kremlin denied its invasion plan and stated that the West is plagued by Russian phobia. Moscow stated that NATO’s expansion threatened Russia and violated the guarantees made to it when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
At a meeting in the northern British city of Liverpool, representatives of the Group of Seven nations stated that they unanimously condemned Russia’s military build-up near Ukraine and called on Moscow to ease the situation.
The statement said: “Russia should have no doubt that further military aggression against Ukraine will have huge consequences and serious costs.”
“We reaffirm our firm commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the right of any sovereign country to determine its own future.”
🇬🇧🌎 # G7 Unanimously condemned Russia’s military buildup and aggressive remarks against Ukraine. We support freedom and democracy, and we know that any military invasion will have huge consequences and will pay a heavy price for it👇 https://t.co/dfT0h0vVZB
— Liz Trussliz (@trussliz) December 12, 2021
The members of the G7 include the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, as well as a representative from the European Union.
A statement issued by the Russian Embassy in London on Saturday night before the G7 joint document was reported stated that the frequent use of the term “Russian aggression” by the United Kingdom during the Liverpool meeting was misleading and was intended to create reasons for the G7 rally. round.
“Russia has made many proposals to NATO on ways to ease tensions. The G7 forum may be an opportunity to discuss them, but so far, all we have heard are radical slogans,” the embassy statement said.
‘REdit line’
For Moscow, NATO’s growing support for neighboring former Soviet republics—and what it sees as a nightmare possibility of Ukrainian coalition missiles against Russia—is a “red line” that is not allowed to be crossed.
Putin asked for a legally binding security guarantee that NATO will not expand further east or place its weapons near Russian territory; Washington has repeatedly stated that no country can veto Ukraine’s NATO hopes.
In 2014, Russia seized the Black Sea Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, prompting the West to impose sanctions on Russia.
The Kremlin said on Sunday that Putin told U.S. President Joe Biden that the Russian army did not pose a threat and that Moscow was demonized by mobilizing troops on its territory. Moscow said Putin and Biden have agreed to hold more talks.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia and the United States have very serious conceptual differences on the issue of Moscow’s “red line”.
US Secretary of State Anthony Brinken stated that Russia cannot exert influence on Ukraine.
In an interview with NBC News after Sunday’s summit, he said: “This is what Russia claims. If we leave it alone and go unpunished, then the entire system that provides stability and prevents the outbreak of war will be in danger. .”
The Russian mission to the EU distributed a copy on Sunday statement Clarify Moscow’s position in dialogue with the United States and other Western countries on security issues.
Russia specifically reminded the West that it has pledged to avoid militarizing its neighbors.
Russia cited the 1990 “New European Paris Charter”: “Security is indivisible, and the security of each participating country is inseparable from the security of all other countries”, and the “European Security Charter” adopted by the OSCE Summit in Istanbul in 1999 , Stipulating that participating countries “will not enhance their own security at the expense of the security of other countries.”
Russia insists on NATO’s response to its proposal to withdraw the area where military exercises are conducted to the distance agreed with the Russia-NATO line of contact, and coordinate the closest approach points of combat ships and aircraft to prevent dangerous military activities, mainly in the Baltic and Black Sea regions. , And the resumption of regular dialogues between the Russian-U.S. and Russian-NATO forms of defense ministries.
(Editing by Georgi Getoff)
