At the end of the G7 summit, the leading industrialized countries turn to Russia. The G7 warn that the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine will have serious consequences. Even China agrees.
The G7 have warned Russia against a further escalation of the war in Ukraine and in particular condemned nuclear threats by President Vladimir Putin. “Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric is unacceptable. Any use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons by Russia would have serious consequences,” warned the foreign ministers of the economically strong democracies in their final document for the G7 meeting in Münster.
Faced with the dangerous rhetoric, even China joined the West in warning of a nuclear escalation. The international community should work to ensure “that nuclear weapons cannot be used and that nuclear wars cannot be fought,” said head of state and party leader Xi Jinping in a conversation with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
At the same time, the G7 announced further support for Ukraine. The country will be helped to prepare for winter. To this end, the G7 had established a coordination mechanism to help Ukraine repair, restore and defend its critical energy and water infrastructure. Most recently, before the approaching winter, Putin had attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in particular. In addition to Germany, the G7 group includes France, Italy, Japan, Canada, the USA and Great Britain. Germany holds the presidency until the end of the year.
The G7, together with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who joined the consultations on Thursday, condemned Russia’s recent escalation in attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure such as energy and water supply facilities. Russia tries to terrorize the civilian population, indiscriminate attacks constitute war crimes.
“Economic costs” will continue to be imposed on Russia and countries that provide military support to the war. The “regime” of Belarus also expected “overwhelming additional costs” if the country intervened more directly in the war than before. One wants to continue to take action against the disinformation of Russia, it says in the final paper. Russia’s false claims that Ukraine is preparing a “dirty bomb” are rejected. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that the claims are unfounded.
The G7 round also sharply criticized Iran’s actions against demonstrators and Tehran’s arms deliveries to Russia – and indirectly threatened further sanctions. “The brutal and disproportionate use of force against peaceful demonstrators and children is condemned,” the final document said. The Iranian authorities are called on to “ensure that the perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses are held accountable”.
Tehran has so far denied accusations of supplying arms to Russia. Among other things, the EU decided in October to impose sanctions on Iran for supporting the Russian war against Ukraine. The G7 have asked Tehran to stop arms deliveries.
