G-7 condemns Russian 'war crime' in Ukraine

The Group of Seven nations pledged to "stand firmly with Ukraine for as long as it takes" while promising more military aid and demanding Russia's immediate withdrawal from the country as it showered Ukrainian cities and civilian targets with more indiscriminate attacks that "constitute a war crime."

With air raid sirens sounding in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, and across the nation, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed for military equipment that can provide a more comprehensive "air shield for Ukraine" in his address by videoconference to an emergency meeting on Tuesday of the G-7 rich nations' leaders.

As he detailed strikes by armed drones and dozens of Russian missiles that left at least 19 dead and 105 injured and caused damage to cities' communications and water and power supplies, Zelenskyy emphasized Russia "is the enemy not only of Ukraine, it is the enemy of each of you" by threatening all democracies."It is not limited to missiles. We see sabotage against gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea and against critical cables in Europe. We see an energy crisis. Food crisis and artificial threat of famine for African and Asian countries. And who does all that? Who provokes and incites that? A terrorist state. And this is Russia. Today it is so," said Zelenskyy.

"Russia wants to provoke chaos in Ukraine and in the entire democratic world," he said of Russia's full-scale invasion since Feb. 24 that has caused at least 15,500 civilian casualties in Ukraine, including more than 6,200 killed and 9,300 injured. "When Ukraine receives a sufficient number of modern and effective air defense systems, the key element of Russian terror — missile strikes — will cease to work."

'Blatant' violation of the U.N. Charter

In response, G-7 nations promised to "continue to coordinate efforts to meet Ukraine’s urgent requirements for military and defense equipment" while demanding that Russia “completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its troops and military equipment from Ukraine,” including in Crimea and all “annexed” regions.

The G-7 calls itself an informal forum that includes the leading industrial nations and democracies of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, along with the European Union. It was created out of a first “World Economic Summit” initiated in 1975 by former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and then-German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.

"We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms and recall that indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilian populations constitute a war crime," the G-7 said in a joint statement coordinated by Germany, which holds the group's yearly rotating presidency.

"We solemnly reiterate that we will never recognize this illegal annexation or the sham referenda that Russia uses to justify it," it said. "Russia has blatantly violated the principles enshrined in the U.N. Charter. They cannot and do not give Russia a legitimate basis to change Ukraine’s borders. We call upon all countries to unequivocally reject these violations of international law."

G-7 nations also said they "deplore deliberate Russian escalatory steps, including the partial mobilization of reservists and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, which is putting global peace and security at risk. We reaffirm that any use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons by Russia would be met with severe consequences."