G7 ministers renew pledge to reject Russian annexation of four Ukrainian oblasts

The foreign ministers of the G7 countries reaffirmed their commitment to never recognize Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian oblasts, marking the second anniversary of the illegal “referendums” held in occupied territories of Ukraine.

The illegal “referendums” were sham votes organized by Russia in September 2022 in occupied parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. These arranged polls, conducted under military occupation and widely condemned as fraudulent by the international community, were used by Russia as a pretext to claim annexation of these Ukrainian territories.

The foreign ministers of Italy, Canada, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Japan, and the EU High Representative, emphasized their “unwavering support for Ukraine and its territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence.”

“We will continue to condemn in the strongest terms Russia’s illegal aggression, human rights violations in the occupied territories of Ukraine, and ongoing brutal attacks that destroy civilian, critical, and urban infrastructure,” The G7 ministers declared.

The G7 ministers outlined a clear path to ending the war: “This war of aggression can end now if Russia immediately, completely, and unconditionally withdraws its troops from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, renounces its claims to annex the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts, as well as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, and respects Ukraine’s sovereign rights as an independent state.”

On 30 September 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees “recognizing the independence” of the partially occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Subsequently, Russia blocked a UN Security Council resolution condemning the “referendums.”

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