Meeting in South Korea, leaders of the G7 (i.e., US, UK, Germany, Italy, France, Japan and Canada) have:
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Agreed to move swiftly to impose additional sanctions on Russia in order “to increase the costs of Russia’s actions”.
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Accused Russia of not taking any concrete actions in support of the Geneva accord.
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Condemned Russia’s illegal attempt to annex Crimea and Sevastopol, which the G7 does not recognize.
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Decided to “follow through on the full legal and practical consequences of this illegal annexation” (i.e., through sanctions including but not limited to the economic, trade and financial areas.
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Endorsed the positive steps taken by Ukraine to comply with the Geneva accord, such as (i) working towards constitutional reform and decentralization, (ii) proposing an amnesty law, and (iii) acting with restraint in dealing with the protesters in Easter Ukraine..
The full statement is available here.
Foreign ministers of all EU Member States are expected to meet “as soon as possible”, as new EU sanctions would need to be passed by unanimity within the EU Council.
