Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 2 March 2023.

Joint statement from G7 leaders following their call on Friday 24 February 2023.

• At the one-year mark of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, we, the Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7), met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reaffirm our unwavering support for Ukraine for as long as it takes. Russia’s heinous attacks over the last 365 days have laid bare the cruelty of the ongoing aggression. We condemn Russia’s illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war, disregard for the Charter of the United Nations (UN) and indifference to the impacts that its war is having on people worldwide. We salute the heroism of the Ukrainian people in their brave resistance. We commit to intensifying our diplomatic, financial and military support for Ukraine, to increasing the costs to Russia and those supporting its war effort, and to continuing to counter the negative impacts of the war on the rest of the world, particularly on the most vulnerable people.
• Russia started this war and Russia can end this war. We call on Russia to stop its ongoing aggression and to immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops from the entire internationally recognized territory of Ukraine. In the past year Russian forces have killed thousands of Ukrainians, caused millions to flee, and forcibly deported many thousands of Ukrainians, including children, to Russia. Russia has destroyed hospitals, schools, and energy and critical infrastructure, and left historic cities in ruins. In areas liberated from Russian forces, there is evidence of mass graves, sexual violence, torture and other atrocities. We strongly condemn all of Russia’s outrageous acts. Amidst Russia’s assault, Ukrainians are more united, proud and determined than ever.
• Russia’s war against Ukraine is also an attack on the fundamental principles of sovereignty of nations, territorial integrity of states and respect for human rights. We remain united and resolute in our support of the UN Charter. We reiterate our unequivocal condemnation and firm rejection of the attempted illegal annexation by Russia of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. As in the case of Crimea and Sevastopol, we will never recognize these illegal annexation attempts.
• We reiterate that Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric is unacceptable, and any use of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons by Russia would be met with severe consequences. We recall the consensus achieved in Bali of all G20 members, including Russia, that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible. We also recall the importance of the 77-year record of non-use of nuclear weapons. We deeply regret Russia’s decision to suspend the implementation of the new START treaty. We express our gravest concern over Russia’s continued occupation and control over the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. The situation can only be resolved by complete withdrawal of Russian troops and equipment from the premises. We support the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) efforts to strengthen nuclear safety and security in Ukraine, including through the continuous presence of IAEA experts and the cessation of all combat operations in and around the plant and surrounding infrastructure.
• We welcome the resolution A/ES-11/L.7 titled “Principles of the Charter of the United Nations underlying a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine” resolution which was adopted with the broad support of the international community at the Emergency Special Session of the UN General Assembly yesterday. We remain committed to diplomacy and welcome and support President Zelenskyy’s earnest efforts to promote a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in line with the UN Charter by outlining basic principles in his Peace Formula. With a view to a viable post-war peace settlement, we remain ready to reach arrangements together with Ukraine as well as interested countries and institutions on sustained security and other commitments to help Ukraine defend itself, secure its free and democratic future, and deter future Russian aggression.
• We remain committed to coordinating efforts to meet Ukraine’s pressing military and defence equipment needs, with an immediate focus on air defence systems and capabilities, as well as necessary munitions and tanks.
• Building on the results achieved during the international conference held in Paris on 13 December, we also reaffirm our commitment to provide additional humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people, assistance to support Ukraine’s energy sector, and other assistance in Ukraine and neighbouring countries, including to ensure access to healthcare including mental health. We welcome the establishment of the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform to help advance Ukraine’s reform agenda, promote private sector led sustainable growth, and ensure close coordination among international donors to deliver assistance in a coherent, transparent and accountable manner.
• We will continue to help maintain Ukraine’s economic and financial stability, including addressing urgent short-term economic needs. In this context, we welcome the progress made by our Finance Ministers to increase our budget and economic support to 39 billion US dollars for 2023 and look forward to additional commitments. We ask Finance Ministers to continue engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Ukraine to deliver an ambitious program by the end of March 2023 and to continue working together, with the IMF and others for necessary budget support to Ukraine throughout and beyond 2023.
• We support Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts, including the recovery of infrastructure destroyed by Russia’s aggression. It is essential that this process continues to involve a wide range of actors, including Ukrainian subnational entities and civil society, international financial institutions and organizations, and the private sector. The Ukraine Recovery Conference to be held in London in June this year will offer a venue for Ukraine, international partners, private sector and civil society to further promote momentum behind Ukraine’s recovery. At the same time, we will continue to support the determination of Ukraine to build a society free from corruption. We support the Ukrainian government’s efforts to advance necessary institution-building in line with Ukraine’s European path, including in the judicial sector and promotion of the rule of law by empowering the independent Ukrainian anti-corruption institutions. In this regard, we reiterate our full confidence in the role of the G7 Ambassadors Group in supporting the implementation of the reform agenda.
• We reaffirm our commitment to strengthening the unprecedented and coordinated sanctions and other economic measures the G7 and partner countries have taken to date to further counter Russia’s capacity to wage its illegal aggression. We remain committed to presenting a united front through the imposition of new coordinated economic actions against Russia in the days and weeks ahead. Specifically, we are taking the following new measures, consistent with our respective legal authorities and processes and international law:

  (i) We will maintain, fully implement and expand the economic measures we have already imposed, including by preventing and responding to evasion and circumvention through the establishment of an Enforcement Coordination Mechanism to bolster compliance and enforcement of our measures and deny Russia the benefits of G7 economies. We call on third-countries or other international actors who seek to evade or undermine our measures to cease providing material support to Russia’s war, or face severe costs. To deter this activity around the world, we are taking actions against third-country actors materially supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine. We also commit to further aligning measures, such as transit or services bans, including to prevent Russian circumvention.

  (ii) We are committed to preventing Russia from finding new ways to acquire advanced materials, technology, and military and industrial equipment from our jurisdictions that it can use to develop its industrial sectors and further its violations of international law. To this end, we will adopt further measures to prevent Russia from accessing inputs that support its military and manufacturing sectors, including, among others, industrial machinery, tools, construction equipment, and other technology Russia is exploiting to rebuild its war machine.

  (iii) We will continue to reduce Russia’s revenue to finance its illegal aggression by taking appropriate steps to limit Russia’s energy revenue and future extractive capabilities, building on the measures we have taken so far, including export bans and the price cap for seaborne Russian-origin crude oil and refined oil products. We commit to taking action in a way that mitigates spillover effects for energy security, in particular for the most vulnerable and affected countries.

  (iv) Given the significant revenues that Russia extracts from the export of diamonds, we will work collectively on further measures on Russian diamonds, including rough and polished ones, working closely to engage key partners.

  (v) We are taking additional measures in relation to Russia’s financial sector to further undermine Russia’s capacity to wage its illegal aggression. While coordinating to preserve financial channels for essential transactions, we will target additional Russian financial institutions to prevent circumvention of our measures.

  (vi) We continue to impose targeted sanctions, including on those responsible for war crimes or human rights violations and abuses, exercising illegitimate authority in Ukraine, or who otherwise are profiting from the war.

• We will continue our efforts to ensure Russia pays for Ukraine’s long-term reconstruction. Russia bears full responsibility for the war and the damage it has caused, including to Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. We collectively reaffirm the need for an international mechanism to register the damages Russia has inflicted. We are determined, consistent with our respective legal systems, that Russia’s sovereign assets in our jurisdictions will remain immobilized until there is a resolution to the conflict that addresses Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and integrity. Any resolution to the conflict must ensure Russia pays for the damage it has caused. We will work with partners beyond the G7 which hold those Russian sovereign assets to build the broadest coalition possible to advance these objectives.
• We are united in our determination to hold President Putin and those responsible to account, consistent with international law. We support investigations by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, the Prosecutor-General of Ukraine, and other national prosecutors who are able to establish jurisdiction under national law. In this regard, we support exploring efforts to develop an international centre for the prosecution of the crime of aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) which is linked to the existing Joint Investigation Team supported by Eurojust.
• We deplore that many countries in the world have been severely affected by the repercussions of Russia’s war of aggression. Russia’s weaponisation of food has caused global economic hardship and a rise in global food prices, increasing the cost of living of people, compounding the economic vulnerabilities of developing countries, and exacerbating already dire humanitarian crises and food insecurity around the world. We reiterate the G7’s united will to continue to provide rapid assistance, including food-related aid, to countries in need and affected populations and we will continue to design our restrictive measures to shield such populations from unintended consequences by ensuring food and fertilisers are carved out. We will continue to support food security and the availability and sustainable use of fertilisers to vulnerable countries in need of assistance and welcome the related work undertaken by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and other relevant agencies. We recognize the importance of the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes, President Zelenskyy’s Grain from Ukraine Initiative and the UN and Türkiye-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI). In this context, we stress the importance of the automatic extension of the BSGI by 18 March and its expansion.
• We also express our profound sympathy for all those affected by the horrifying earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria. We stand in solidarity with the people of Türkiye and Syria and pledge our continued support to tackling the consequences of this catastrophe. It is vital that humanitarian aid reaches all those who require it as efficiently as possible. We welcome the expansion of cross-border aid for an initial period of three months, and underscore that the humanitarian needs of those in northwest Syria should continue to be met. We also welcome the EU initiative to host a donor conference in support of the people in Türkiye and Syria in March.
• Above all, our solidarity will never waver in standing with Ukraine, in supporting countries and people in need, and in upholding the international order based on the rule of law.