© Reuters. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands during the G7 leaders’ summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 20, 2023. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS
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Written by Andreas Rinke and Trevor Honeycutt
HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – Leaders of the world’s richest democracies sent strong messages of continued support for Ukraine on Sunday as President Volodymyr Zelensky denied Russia’s claim that it had finally captured the eastern city of Bakhmut.
Zelensky told reporters before a meeting with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G7 summit in the Japanese city of Hiroshima, that the stricken eastern city, the epicenter of fighting in recent months, has been devastated.
“It’s a tragedy,” Zelensky said. “There is nothing in this place” – what is left are “a lot of dead Russians”.
There was confusion about whether he was asked whether the city was still in Kiev’s hands or whether Bakhmut had been captured by Russian forces, but a spokesman for the Ukrainian leader said his statements were considered a denial of the city’s fall.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed what he described as a victory for his forces, calling it the “liberation” of Pakhmut in a statement on the Kremlin website.
The assault on the largely destroyed city was led by the forces of the Wagner Mercenary Group, and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces finally drove the Ukrainians out of the last populated area within the city.
During the final day of the three-day G7 summit on Sunday, Biden announced a $375 million military aid package, including artillery and armored vehicles, for Ukraine.
He told Zelensky that the United States was doing everything it could to strengthen Ukraine’s defense against Russia, and assured the Ukrainian leader that the United States was not going anywhere, and would support Ukraine.
No “frozen dispute”
Other G7 leaders – the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada – echoed Biden’s sentiments.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised that his country will support Ukraine for as long as possible and for as long as necessary.
Biden told the G7 leaders that Washington supports joint allied training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, though Kiev has not won commitments to deliver the fighter jets.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the prospect of such training with US-made F-16s was a message to Russia that it should not expect success in its invasion by prolonging the conflict.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the training would start this summer and Ukraine would get the air power it needs in the future.
Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, said it was “important” that the G7 countries show solidarity in their intention to uphold international law and order during a summit that Zelensky attended as a guest.
Schulz said that while the immediate priority was to support Ukraine’s defence, security guarantees for Ukraine had to be put in place once the war ended.
Both Schultz and French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to side with Ukraine in opposing any notion of the war turning into a “frozen conflict”, or any proposal for peace talks without the withdrawal of Russian forces.
With Moscow’s 15-month-old invasion dragging on, many analysts and diplomats have floated the idea that it could freeze like a conflict on the Korean Peninsula. North and South Korea are still technically at war as the conflict between 1950 and 1953 ended in a cease-fire rather than a peace treaty.
“Peace should not make Ukraine a frozen conflict because that would lead to war in the future. It should solve the problem,” Macron said.
The Hiroshima summit also gave Zelensky an opportunity to lobby for support from other attendees, such as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who remained non-committal.
“DE risks” from China
While the determination to help Ukraine fend off the Russian invasion was a key message from the G7 summit, the other was a lack of confidence in China as a trading partner.
A US official said Biden met with the leaders of Japan and South Korea on Sunday to discuss military interoperability and the economic coercion they face from China.
The day before, G7 leaders outlined a common approach to China, looking to “de-risk, not decouple” economic engagement with a country seen as the world’s factory.
In a statement, the Group of Seven stressed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, as Chinese military exercises raised concerns about the security of Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island that China considers part of its territory.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a complaint to Japan expressing its strong opposition to the G7 statement, saying it ignores China’s concerns, attacks it and interferes in its internal affairs, including Taiwan.
