Top G7 diplomats urged Russia on Friday to accept a US ceasefire proposal in the Russia-Ukraine war.
In a joint statement after the talks in Canada, the diplomats said, “We call on Russia to respond by agreeing to a ceasefire on equal terms and implementing it fully. If this ceasefire is not agreed to, Russia will face further costs, including additional sanctions, stopping the rise in oil prices, providing more aid to Ukraine, and other measures.”
The White House said US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.
On Friday, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie said, “All G7 foreign ministers agree on the US ceasefire proposal, which also has Ukraine’s support. And now we await Russia’s response.”
She added, “The ball is now in Russia’s court on Ukraine.”
Echoing the same words, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said, “There is a consensus that now is the time, without conditions, for a ceasefire. Ukraine has made its position clear. It is now up to Russia to accept it.”
Lamy added that there is a “collective will” to work on ways to provide Ukraine with the necessary “security infrastructure” and monitor the ceasefire.
The G7’s joint statement came as the Kremlin said more needs to be done on the ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, signaling Russia’s reluctance to fully accept the US proposal.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin was waiting for answers to many questions about implementing the ceasefire.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Putin’s response as “deliberate” imposing conditions that would complicate the issue and “take it out of the process.”
During the closed-door meeting, the G7 foreign ministers also discussed China’s role in global security, stability in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, and the safety of navigation.
G-7 foreign ministers met on Friday for a session on strategic challenges posed by China, North Korea, Iran and Russia, a group of four countries that many foreign policy analysts and military officials have dubbed an anti-Western alliance of the four countries an “axis of unrest.”
Source : VOA