G7 Leaders’ Statement on Ukraine
1. Preamble
At our meeting today in Hiroshima, we, the Leaders of the G7, reaffirmed our commitment to stand together against Russia’s illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. We condemn, in the strongest terms, Russia’s manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations (UN) and the impact of Russia’s war on the rest of the world. 15 months of Russia’s aggression has 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. We express our full sympathy and condolences to the Ukrainian people for their loss and suffering. We salute the Ukrainian people for their brave resistance. Our support for Ukraine will not waver. We will not tire in our commitment to mitigate the impact of Russia’s illegal actions on the rest of the world.
Today we are taking new steps to ensure that Russia’s illegal aggression against the sovereign state of Ukraine fails and to support the Ukrainian people in their quest for a just peace rooted in respect for international law. We are renewing our commitment to provide the financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support Ukraine requires for as long as it takes. We are imposing further sanctions and measures to increase the costs to Russia and those who are supporting its war effort. And we are taking steps to support partners worldwide as they navigate the suffering caused by the Russia’s war, including through humanitarian assistance. We are also building on the success of our efforts to ensure that Russia is no longer able to weaponize the availability of energy against us and against the world. Since February 2022, we have adopted sanctions, import bans, and other measures to reduce our dependence on Russia’s source of energy. In addition, in Elmau, we agreed to launch a price cap on Russian oil and petroleum products. This is working. Russia’s revenues are down. Global oil and gas prices have fallen significantly, benefiting countries around the world.
2. Towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine
We urge 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 constitutes a violation of international law, in particular the UN Charter. We reiterate our firm rejection of Russia’s illegal attempts to acquire Ukrainian territory by force. We underline that a just peace cannot be realized without the complete and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops and military equipment, and this must be included in any call for peace.
Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, undermining of arms control regimes, and stated intent to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus are dangerous and unacceptable. We recall the statement in Bali of all G20 leaders, including Russia. In this context, we reiterate our position that threats by Russia of nuclear weapon use, let alone any use of nuclear weapons by Russia, in the context of its aggression against Ukraine are inadmissible.
We once again recall the UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/ES-11/6 titled “Principles of the Charter of the United Nations underlying a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine” adopted in February this year with the broad support of the international community, and will continue to pursue concrete efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine. We remain committed to diplomacy and welcome and support the earnest efforts by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in setting out basic principles in his Peace Formula in line with the UN Charter. With a view to a viable post-war peace settlement, we remain ready to reach arrangements together with Ukraine as well as interested countries and institutions on sustained security and other commitments to help Ukraine defend itself, secure its free and democratic future, and deter future Russian aggression. We are determined to help Ukraine build a positive future for its people. We welcome the key role that Ukraine plays in the European Political Community.
3. Nuclear safety and security
We express our gravest concern over Russia’s grossly irresponsible seizure and militarization of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). We support the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) efforts to strengthen nuclear safety and security of, and the application of safeguards to, nuclear material and facilities in Ukraine, including through the continuous presence of IAEA experts and its focus on ensuring nuclear safety and security at the site. We reaffirm support for the IAEA Director General’s “Seven Indispensable Pillars of Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Security” and highlight the importance of ensuring and promoting the safety and security of nuclear facilities under any circumstances. In this context, we highlight the G7’s contribution to the IAEA’s efforts in Ukraine for this purpose and call on others to provide support.
4. Support to stop Russia’s war of aggression
We commit to continuing our security assistance to Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s aggression, tailoring our support to Ukraine’s needs.
We stress the importance of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in coordinating military and defense assistance by each country provided in line with its national circumstances.
5. Support for recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine
We reaffirm our strong commitment to ensuring that Ukraine has the economic support it needs. Under the leadership of Japan’s G7 Presidency, together with the international community, we have ensured Ukraine has the budget support it needs for 2023 and early 2024. We welcome the approval of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and look forward to the swift implementation of Ukraine’s reforms supported by the program. The program will help to stabilize Ukraine’s macroeconomic and financial situation, contribute to longer-term economic sustainability, and help to catalyze further financial support from other countries and institutions as well as the private sector.
We welcome the progress made in discussions in the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform for Ukraine and reaffirm our intention to further coordinate with Ukraine, partner countries and relevant international organizations. We are committed to addressing Ukraine’s recovery needs. We will continue our joint effort to support Ukraine’s repair of its critical infrastructure, recovery and reconstruction. We are determined to use the Platform as our primary mechanism to ensure that our assistance and support for reforms are well coordinated, properly sequenced, and mutually reinforcing. It will play a central role in coordinating donor support to match Ukrainian needs, advancing Ukraine’s reform agenda in line with its European path and helping to promote sustainable private sector-led growth. We also welcome the efforts of the G7+ Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Ukraine Energy Sector Support and reiterate our continued support for restoring and upgrading Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. We stand ready to support the 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.
We recognize the importance of the role of the private sector for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction, including through trade and investment, which may be facilitated through insurance and other tools to manage risk. In this regard, we welcome efforts by the World Bank Group, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and our Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in accordance with their mandates. These efforts include the establishment of the Support for Ukraine’s Reconstruction and Economy (SURE) Trust Fund at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) as well as the launch of the Ukraine Investment Platform in Tokyo on May 12 to support Ukraine and affected countries more broadly, through further efficient co-financing and greater collaboration among the DFIs, together with the EBRD. We expect the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which will be held in London in June this year, to reinforce momentum behind Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction.
6. Anti-corruption and justice system reform
We 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.
We support Ukraine’s efforts to advance necessary institution-building as well as substantive legal reform in line with Ukraine’s European path, especially in the judicial sector and promotion of the rule of law.
7. Sanctions and other measures
We remain united in imposing coordinated sanctions and other economic actions to further undermine Russia’s capacity to wage its illegal aggression. Specifically, we are taking the following measures, consistent with our respective legal authorities and processes and international law:
We will further restrict Russia’s access to our economies. Building on previous measures taken to prevent Russia from accessing inputs in support of sectors key to its military industrial base, we will broaden our actions to ensure that exports of all items critical to Russia’s aggression including those used by Russia on the battlefield are restricted across all our jurisdictions, including exports of industrial machinery, tools, and other technology that Russia uses to rebuild its war machine. We will further target those operating in these key sectors, such as manufacturing, construction, and transportation as well as business services. We will starve Russia of G7 technology, industrial equipment and services that support its war machine. We will continue to shield agricultural, medical, and humanitarian products from our restrictive measures and make every effort to avoid potential spillover impacts on third countries.
We will further prevent the evasion and circumvention of our measures against Russia, including targeting entities transporting material to the front. We will continue to work through the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) Task Force and the Enforcement Coordination Mechanism to enhance the effectiveness of our restrictive measures. We are engaging with third-countries through which restricted G7 goods, services, or technology may be provided to Russia to strengthen third-countries’ understandings of G7 measures. We note and encourage commitments made by these countries to ensure our measures are not circumvented and have the intended effect.
We reiterate our call on third parties to immediately cease providing material support to Russia’s aggression, or face severe costs. We will reinforce our coordination to prevent and respond to third parties supplying weapons to Russia and continue to take actions against third-country actors who materially support Russia’s war.
We will also work to further curtail Russia’s use of the international financial system to further its war in Ukraine. We are prepared to take further measures against those willfully supporting the financing of Russia’s war. We are taking steps to further reduce avenues for Russia to circumvent our financial measures including by preventing third-country branches of Russian banks from being used to avoid sanctions. We will continue to take necessary actions against Russia’s financial sector while coordinating to preserve financial channels for essential transactions.
We will continue to reduce Russia’s revenue to finance its illegal aggression by taking appropriate steps to limit Russia’s energy revenue and future extractive capabilities, building on the measures we have taken so far, including export bans and the price cap for seaborne Russian-origin crude oil and refined oil products. We have dramatically reduced our reliance on Russian energy and commodities. We are determined to continue on this path so that Russia is no longer able to weaponize energy against us. We will further reduce reliance on civil nuclear and related goods from Russia, including working to assist countries seeking to diversify their supplies. We will also continue efforts to reduce Russia’s revenue from metals. Further, we remain committed to upholding the price caps on Russian oil and petroleum products and we will enhance our efforts to counter evasion of these caps while avoiding spillover effects and maintaining global energy supply.
In order to reduce the revenues that Russia extracts from the export of diamonds, we will continue to work closely together to restrict trade in and use of diamonds mined, processed or produced in Russia and engage with key partners with the aim of ensuring effective implementation of future coordinated restrictive measures, including through tracing technologies.
8. Responsibility for Damage
We will continue our efforts to ensure that Russia pays for the long-term reconstruction of Ukraine. In this context, we 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, we will continue to take measures available within our domestic frameworks 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. We are taking steps to fully map holdings of Russia’s sovereign assets immobilized in our jurisdictions. We reaffirm that, consistent with our respective legal systems, Russia’s sovereign assets in our jurisdictions will remain immobilized until Russia pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine.
9. Accountability
There must be no impunity for war crimes and other atrocities, such as Russia’s attacks against civilians and critical civil infrastructure. We 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 this context, we reiterate our commitment to holding those responsible to account consistent with international law, including by supporting the efforts of international mechanisms, such as the International Criminal Court (ICC). We strongly condemn the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainians, including children, from the occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia, and will continue to follow the progress of the ICC investigation in this regard, with the utmost attention and call for the return of these children. We also deplore instances of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence against Ukrainians. We welcome the establishment of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.
In addition, welcoming the efforts by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in this context, we underscore the importance of the protection of education of all children, in particular those impacted as well as the preservation of Ukrainian cultural properties and heritage damaged and threatened by the war of aggression. We are also paying attention to the impact of Russia’s aggression on international sport. While fully respecting the autonomy of sporting organizations, we are focused on fair sporting competition as well as on ensuring that Russian and Belarusian athletes are in no way appearing as representatives of their states.
10. Support to vulnerable countries
Parallel to our support to Ukraine, we reaffirm our commitment to address the growing needs of vulnerable countries which have been aggravated by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In particular, we stress that Russia’s weaponization of food has compounded economic vulnerabilities, exacerbated already dire humanitarian crises, and escalated global food insecurity and malnutrition to unprecedented levels. We welcome the significant emergency financing delivered by the IMF through the Food Shock Window approved in October 2022 and support additional efforts towards vulnerable countries. We will continue to provide rapid assistance to help affected countries and populations, including through the Global Alliance for Food Security (GAFS). We will continue to support the export of Ukrainian agri-products including through the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes. In this regard, we support the expansion and extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) and we call upon Russia to stop threatening global food supplies and allow the BSGI to operate at its maximum potential. We remain committed to the Grain from Ukraine initiative. Our contributions support the delivery of humanitarian food assistance to the most vulnerable countries in partnership with the UN World Food Programme (WFP). We remain dedicated to concrete collaborative actions in order to enhance energy security and achieve climate commitments. We will continue to work together in solidarity to limit the impacts from the global energy crisis triggered by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine to support vulnerable and affected countries, such as through the International Energy Agency Task Force on Natural Gas and Clean Fuels Market Monitoring and Supply Security.
11. Conclusion
We hereby pledge, from Hiroshima, the “symbol of peace”, that G7 members will mobilize all our policy instruments and, together with Ukraine, make every effort to bring a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine as soon as possible.
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