Brussels, 25/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 24 March, the leaders of the G7 countries (Germany, France, Italy, UK, Canada, USA and Japan) and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council - Jose Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy respectively - threatened to take additional measures against Russia if it “continues to escalate the situation”. They also decided to suspend Russia's participation in the G8 and to replace the meeting of the G8 (planned for the beginning of June in Sochi) with a meeting of the G7 in Brussels.
In their declaration, the leaders affirm that the actions of Russia towards Ukraine “will have significant consequences”. The G7 says it is ready to “intensify” the measures already taken and also to take “sectoral sanctions that will have an increasingly significant impact on the Russian economy” if the situation should become worse. The G7 leaders condemn the referendum in Crimea and “Russia's illegal attempt to annex Crimea”. They reaffirm their support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine.
Reminding Russia “of its international obligations, and its responsibilities including those for the world economy”, the G7 leaders consider that Moscow “has a clear choice to make”. “Diplomatic avenues to de-escalate the situation remain open, and we encourage the Russian government to take them”. They call on Russia to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and to avail itself of offers of international mediation and monitoring to address any “legitimate” concerns. In the G7's view, Russia's support for the OSCE mission is a “step in the right direction”. The G7 looks forward to the mission's early deployment with “safe and secure access” throughout Ukraine.
G7 in Brussels and meeting of energy ministers. Due to action from Russia which is incompatible with the G8's “shared beliefs and shared responsibilities”, the members of the G7 announced that they would not participate in the summit in Sochi in June. “We will suspend our participation in the G8 until Russia changes course and the environment comes back to where the G8 is able to have a meaningful discussion”, they stated. They are suspending Russia's participation in the G8. Russia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov is not bothered by this situation, stating that “the G8 is an informal club (…). If our Western partners consider that this format is out of date, we will not cling onto them”.
The G7 leaders will meet in the G7 format in Brussels in June 2014 “to discuss the broad agenda we have together”. A spokesperson for the European Commission, Pia Ahrenkilde-Hansen, said on Tuesday 25 March that “we want to organise it at the same time as the G8 in Sochi” - planned for 4-5 June. “This will be the first time that the EU hosts a G7, a G8-1”, she added. And while they recommended their foreign affairs ministers not to take part in the meeting planned in Moscow in April, the G7 leaders decided that the energy ministers will meet “to discuss ways to strengthen our collective energy security”. No date has yet been given.
Support for Ukraine. The leaders also announced that they will support the implementation of the “ambitious” programme of reforms of the Ukrainian government. In addition, the G7 leaders “strongly” urged the IMF and Ukraine to reach a rapid conclusion on aid to support the reforms. The leaders say that they remain united in their “commitment to provide strong financial backing to Ukraine, to coordinate our technical assistance, and to provide assistance in other areas, including measures to enhance trade and strengthen energy security.” (CG)