Russia will have to encounter “massive consequences” if it invades Ukraine, Britain’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Sunday at a meeting of the G7’s top diplomats.
The remarks from European leaders largely echoed those of US President Joe Biden, who has warned Russia of “strong” punitive measures if it attacks Ukraine while also expressing interest in resuming diplomacy over Kyiv’s seven-year conflict with Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Truss said there was a “very much a united voice from the G7 nations who represent 50 percent of global GDP, being very clear that there will be massive consequences for Russia in the case of an incursion into Ukraine”.
Russia Gets a stern warning from G7 on Ukraine Conflict
Since April 2014, more than 13,200 people have been killed in clashes between Ukrainian government forces and separatists backed by Russia. Russia claims that Kyiv is failing to meet its obligations under the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements aimed at ending the war.
President #Putin warned against shifting the responsibility for the escalation of the situation in #Ukraine on #Russia, since it was #NATO making dangerous attempts to gain a foothold on Ukrainian territory, and building up its military capabilities along Russian borders.
The European Union too has warned Russia it would face consequences if it invades Ukraine, as Germany and France called for talks to ease tensions amid growing concerns over Russia’s troop buildup near the border with its southwestern neighbor.
“Aggression must have a cost, which is why we will communicate these points to Russia ahead of time,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on December 10 at a joint news conference with Germany’s new chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
Von der Leyen stated that the EU would not publicly state what “sanctions and other measures across economic and financial sectors” would be imposed if Russia invaded Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke with Ukraine’s president this week, expressed a desire to continue peace talks on the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
On December 9, Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, reiterating that Washington and its allies would respond to a Russian attack with “strong economic and other measures.”
