Brussels, 31/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - During the evening of Wednesday 30 July, the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the USA, and the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, threatened Russia with fresh sanctions if it did not help de-escalate the situation in Ukraine. “Russia still has the opportunity to choose the path of de-escalation, which would lead to the removal of these sanctions. If it does not do so, however, we remain ready to further intensify the costs of its adverse actions”, the G7 leaders and European Council and Commission presidents said in a joint statement. The G7 countries have independently strengthened their sanctions against Russia over the course of the past week. “We believe it is essential to demonstrate to the Russian leadership that it must stop its support for the separatists in eastern Ukraine and tangibly participate in creating the necessary conditions for the political process”, they stated.
The leaders once again condemned Russia's “illegal annexation of Crimea, and actions to destabilise eastern Ukraine”. “Those actions are unacceptable and violate international law”, they reiterated.
Condemning “the tragic downing” of the Malaysia Airlines plane, the G7 leaders believed this “terrible event” should have marked a watershed in the conflict, causing Russia to change its attitude. “Regrettably however, Russia has not changed course”, the G7 leaders stated. They demanded a “prompt, full, unimpeded and transparent” international investigation into the plane crash, and called on “all sides to establish, maintain and fully respect a ceasefire at and around the crash site”.
Convinced that the solution to the conflict in Ukraine must be political, the G7 leaders called for “a peaceful settlement of the crisis in Ukraine”, and underlined “the need to implement President Poroshenko's peace plan without any further delay”. (CG)