G7 countries call on Russia to end war on Ukraine

ISTANBUL

The G7 countries called on Russia on Saturday to end its war against Ukraine, pledging strong support for Kyiv.

"We are steadfast in our support for Ukraine in its defence against Russia's unjustifiable, unprovoked and illegal war of aggression and reiterate our constant call on Russia to put an end to the war it started and to end the suffering and loss of life it continues to cause," the G7 nations said in a joint statement.

The seven countries, France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US, condemned Russia's war on Kyiv, which they said generated one of the most severe food and energy crises in recent history.

"On the immediate crisis, the G7 is committed to both short-and-long term-support for Ukraine. We are determined to accelerate a coordinated multilateral response to preserve global food security and stand by our most vulnerable partners in this respect."

Vowing to promote clean energy and invest more in LNG projects to reduce dependency on Russia, they noted the importance of ensuring energy security while accelerating energy transition.

"In this context, we recognize the importance of accelerating investment in upstream developments, including in liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, and promoting usage of clean energy with a view to decreasing our dependency on Russia's energy," said the statement.

Also, the G7 underlined that they would not tolerate the secessionist policies of Republika Srpska, the Serb entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and expressed concern on the deepening political crisis in the country.

"We will not tolerate Republika Srpska's secessionist policies, which endanger Bosnia and Herzegovina's future and the stability in the region," it said.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is embroiled in a political conflict between Bosniaks and Serbs in the country, with Bosnian Serb lawmakers saying they would boycott the country's institutions after the country's criminal code was amended last year to ban the denial of genocide and glorification of war criminals.

ISTANBUL

The G7 countries called on Russia on Saturday to end its war against Ukraine, pledging strong support for Kyiv.

Vowing to promote clean energy and invest more in LNG projects to reduce dependency on Russia, they noted the importance of ensuring energy security while accelerating energy transition.

"We will not tolerate Republika Srpska's secessionist policies, which endanger Bosnia and Herzegovina's future and the stability in the region," it said.