The leaders of the democratic world, G7, released a joint statement on Ukraine on May 19, 20231.
At the meeting in Hiroshima (Japan), the G7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the joint opposition to russia’s illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. They condemned russia’s manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations (UN) and the impact of the russia’s war on the rest of the world. The statement indicated that 15 months of russia’s aggression had cost thousands of lives, inflicted immense suffering on the people of Ukraine, and imperiled access to food and energy for many of the world’s most vulnerable people. The G7 countries expressed their deepest condolences to the Ukrainian people for their loss and suffering. The states saluted the Ukrainian people for their brave resistance and assured that their support for Ukraine will not waver.
This statement contains a call on russia to stop its ongoing aggression and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops and military equipment from the entire internationally recognized territory of Ukraine. Russia started this war and can end this war. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is a violation of international law, including the UN Charter. G7 states declared their firm rejection of russia’s illegal attempts to seize Ukrainian territory by force. In their opinion, a just peace cannot be realized without complete and unconditional withdrawal of russian troops and military equipment from the territory of Ukraine.
This statement also mentions russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, the undermining of arms control regimes and declared intention to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus, indicating that this is dangerous and unacceptable behavior of the state. The statement also reiterates the position regarding the inadmissibility of threats by russia to use nuclear weapons, and even more so any use of nuclear weapons by russia in the context of its aggression against Ukraine.
The states indicated that they are determined to help Ukraine build a positive future for its people, and they recognize the key role that Ukraine plays in the European political community.
This statement states that the countries are ready to support sustainable and resilient recovery and green reconstruction of Ukraine, including by sharing our experience, knowledge and expertise regarding humanitarian de-mining and war-related debris and pollution management.
The text of this statement contains gravest concern over кussia’s grossly irresponsible seizure of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and support for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) efforts to strengthen nuclear safety and security.
The G7 commit to continuing their security assistance to Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s aggression, tailoring our support to Ukraine’s needs. This statement also expresses the position that Ukraine is guaranteed the economic support it needs.
The G7 welcome the continued determination and efforts of the Ukrainian government and people to combat corruption, and encourage continued implementation of an effective reform agenda that will support good governance and improve investor confidence.
Leaders of the democratic world remain united in imposing coordinated sanctions and other economic actions to further undermine russia’s capacity to wage its illegal aggression.
Extremely important for Ukraine is the G7 statement on continued efforts to ensure that russia pays for the long-term reconstruction of Ukraine. In this context, the G7 welcome the establishment, in the framework of the Council of Europe and to meet the request from the UN General Assembly, of a Registry of Damages Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation Against Ukraine. In line with the commitment made through the REPO Task Force, the states will continue to take measures to find, restrain, freeze, seize, and, where appropriate, confiscate or forfeit the assets of those individuals and entities that have been sanctioned in connection with russia’s aggression.
The G7 acknowledge the efforts made at the United for Justice international conference organized by the Government of Ukraine, and recall the Bucha Declaration that calls for accountability for the most serious crimes under international law committed on the territory of Ukraine.
In conclusion, the statement indicates that G7 members will mobilize all their policy instruments and, together with Ukraine, make every effort to bring a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine as soon as possible.
International charitable organization “Environment-People-Law” welcomes this position of the leaders of the democratic world and their clear position aimed at supporting Ukraine on the way to a victorious, complete and unconditional peace. It is important to emphasize position of the G7 in terms of the importance of compensation for damage caused to the environment, green restoration of our state and energy security. We are happy to emphasize that, after all, world leaders focus on the issues of environmental protection that appear in their statements and decisions. We sincerely hope that the statements will result in real actions on the way to restoring the Ukrainian environment.
EPL has already conducted a number of studies that demonstrate how harmful russian aggression is to the nature of Ukraine. You can access them at the following links: http://surl.li/hfwlt, http://surl.li/hfwlw, http://surl.li/hfwmc,http://surl.li/hfwmi,http://surl.li/hfwmp.
EPL systematically works to study the impact of military actions on the environment. More details can be found at EPL’s website: http://epl.org.ua.
