U.S. objects to calling out 'Russian aggression' in G7 statement on Ukraine – Financial Times

20.02.2025 19:05

Ukrinform

U.S. administration officials are opposing calling Russia the aggressor in a G7 statement on the third anniversary of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, threatening to derail a traditional show of unity.

Five Western officials familiar with the matter told this to the Financial Times, Ukrinform reports.

"We are adamant that there must be a distinction made between Russia and Ukraine. They are not the same," an official briefed on the matter said.

The U.S. envoys have objected to the phrase "Russian aggression" and similar descriptions that have been used by G7 leaders since 2022 to describe the conflict, the Western officials said.

Russia's aggression was mentioned five times in the G7 leaders' statement last year.

The Trump administration's insistence on softening the language reflects a broader shift in U.S. policy to describe the war as the "Ukraine conflict," said two people familiar with the matter.

Recent statements from the U.S. Department of State use similar wording, including a readout from Secretary of State Marco Rubio's meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh that twice mentions "the conflict in Ukraine."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's participation at a virtual G7 summit on Monday has also not yet been agreed, the officials said.