G7 pledges ‘unwavering support’ for Ukraine amid ongoing war with Russia
- 20 October, 10:55
G7 defence ministers have pledged “unwavering” support for Ukraine amid the ongoing war with Russia. Convening on Saturday for inaugural ministerial meeting in Italy, G7 defence ministers expressed their commitment to support Ukraine as the war with Russia enters third year.
“We underscore our intent to continue to provide assistance to Ukraine, including military assistance in the short and long term,” read the G7 defence ministers’ final statement after the meeting in Naples.
The ministers representing Italy, France, Germany, Britain, Japan, Canada, and the United States also backed Ukraine’s “irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including Nato membership”.
Italy, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the G7, hosted the inaugurating ministerial meeting focused on defence amid the crisis in Middle East and Ukraine.
Earlier this week Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pitched to EU and NATO members his “victory plan” about ending the war in Ukraine’s terms. However, the NATO did not give immediate response to Zelenskiy’s request to grant his country a formal invitation for NATO membership. EU countries are considering Zelenskiy’s “victory plan” proposal. France’s foreign minister on Saturday pledged support for the “victory plan”, telling reporters in Kyiv that he would work with Ukrainian officials to secure other nations’ backing for the proposal. “A Russian victory would be a consecration for the law of the strongest and would push the international order toward chaos,” the French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said.
Zelenskiy’s “victory plan” includes formal invitation for Ukraine’s joining NATO as well as the permission to strike Russia’s territory with the use of Western long-range missiles – the two steps Kyiv’s Western allies have been reluctant to support.
