World leaders said it was up to Putin to 'change course'
- Leaders of the countries agreed to meet again without Russia
- David Cameron made it 'clear' this summer's G8 summit was cancelled
Russia was last night suspended from the elite G8 group of leading economies, who said they could not accept its breach of international law.
David Cameron, Barack Obama and other world leaders said it was up to Vladimir Putin to 'change course' over Ukraine or his country will remain excluded indefinitely.
Leaders of the remaining countries – Britain, the US, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan, who are calling themselves the G7 – agreed to meet again without Russia until it was ready to engage in 'meaningful discussion'.
G7 leaders clockwise from left, EC president Herman Van Rompuy, Canadian PM Stephen Harper, French President Francois Hollande, British PM David Cameron, US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, Italian PM Matteo Renzi and EC president Jose Manuel Barroso
They made a joint statement following crisis talks on the sidelines of a summit about nuclear security, which was overshadowed by developments in Ukraine.
Since the annexation of Crimea last week, Russian forces have stormed and seized control of three Ukrainian military bases and fuelled fears of further action.
Mr Cameron said it was 'absolutely clear' that this summer's G8 summit, scheduled to be held in Sochi – the Russian resort which hosted the Winter Olympics – was cancelled.
Instead, it will be held in Brussels in June, and Mr Putin will not be invited for the first time since Russia was admitted to the group in 1998.
A G7 statement released last night said: 'This group came together because of shared beliefs and shared responsibilities. Russia's actions in recent weeks are not consistent with them.'
The communique 'condemns Russia's illegal attempt to annex Crimea' as 'contravention of international law.'
British Prime Minister David Cameron attends a meeting of G7 leaders
U.S. President Barack Obama hosted the meeting in The Hague, Netherlands
Foreign Secretary William Hague said: 'The President of the United States was very clear in the meeting that it will be hard to revive that (the G8) in the immediate future.
'It would need our values to be clear, our shared values to be clear again, and clearly those shared values are not shared by Russia in violating the independence and territorial integrity of a neighbouring nation.'
But Russia's foreign minister, who was also in The Hague yesterday, played down the snub. Sergei Lavrov said: 'If our Western partners believe the format has exhausted itself, we don't cling to this format. We don't believe it will be a big problem if it doesn't convene'.
A Dutch military police officer guards Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's Catshuis residence prior to a G7 meeting in The Hague
The move to isolate Russia diplomatically came as the US urged European countries to impose tougher economic sanctions – even if it hurts the City or energy prices.
Mr Obama said leaders were united on 'imposing a cost' on Mr Putin's regime amid concerns he has set his sights on further expansion.
US security adviser Ben Rhodes said of the sanctions: 'We would like to see a steady ratcheting up of that pressure.'
Britain and other European countries have imposed asset freezes and travel bans on a list of 33 Russian oligarchs and Putin loyalists.
But they were urged to go further as Nato commander, General Philip Breedlove, warned that Russian troops on Ukraine's eastern border were 'very, very sizeable, and very, very ready' for action.
Outnumbered Ukrainian forces were ordered to leave Crimea yesterday, and bade tearful farewells to loved ones left behind.
Russian military experts said Mr Putin would decide in the next two weeks whether to launch 'a large-scale invasion of mainland Ukraine'.
Analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said this could involve attacks on half a dozen Ukrainian cities.
'The troops are concentrated and ready for an offensive,' he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment