G-7 leaders to meet online May 8 in show of unity to pressure Russia

The leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations will hold a virtual meeting Sunday to discuss the latest developments in Russia’s war against Ukraine and demonstrate their continued unity in pressuring Moscow to end the aggression, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

U.S. President Joe Biden said earlier that the discussions will include whether or not to take additional punitive steps toward Russia, while saying his administration is “open to additional sanctions.”

The meeting on Sunday morning will be chaired by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to Psaki. The G-7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union.

She also noted that the meeting date is one day before Russia’s Victory Day, an anniversary commemorating the then Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II.

“(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin has certainly projected his desire to mark that day as a day where he is victorious over Ukraine,” Psaki said, adding, “Of course, he is not.”

Having the G-7 leaders meet virtually on Sunday is an opportunity to “show how unified the West is in confronting the aggression and the invasion by President Putin,” she said.

Russia began its military attack against Ukraine on Feb. 24 after asserting that its security was under threat from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s eastward expansion and the possibility of Ukraine joining the security alliance.

Putin has also insisted that he is carrying out a “special military operation” to “demilitarize and denazify” the former Soviet republic, even though Zelenskyy is a Jew whose relatives were victims of the Nazi Holocaust.

The United States and its allies have labeled Putin’s war as unjustified and unprovoked, and have provided military and other assistance to Ukraine to help the country defend itself.