US Derails G-7 Condemnation of russian Missile Strike on Ukraine - Bloomberg
The US has told the Group of Seven that it won’t endorse a statement condemning russia’s deadliest attack on Ukraine this year "because it wants to keep negotiations with Moscow on track", reports Bloomberg.
President Donald Trump’s administration told allies it couldn’t sign the statement denouncing the attack as it is “working to preserve the space to negotiate peace,” according to people familiar with diplomatic correspondence, as meetings continue between the White House and the Kremlin.
[The US has not explained why condemning an attack on civilians would be incompatible with achieving a ceasefire agreement.]
Canada, which holds the G-7 presidency this year, told allies that without US endorsement it would be impossible to go ahead with the statement, according to the same people.
The US Embassy in London declined to comment. The White House, US National Security Council and Canadian government did not immediately respond to Bloomberg News requests for comment.
The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged it carried out the attack on Sumy in a Telegram post on Monday, while claiming it had "struck a gathering of Ukrainian military command staff in the city and killed more than 60 servicemen" [a blatant lie].
Trump said that russia had “made a mistake" and quickly shifted to blaming the fighting on his predecessor Joe Biden and on Ukrainian President Zelensky.
Russia’s strike on Sumy came two days after [so-called] President Vladimir Putin met Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff for nearly five hours in St. Petersburg to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Following the Sumy attack, nearly 50 countries and international organizations spoke in support of Ukraine, Zelensky said Monday in his daily address to the nation.
Zelensky said that Kyiv had responded positively to Trump’s proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire and an end to attacks like those in Sumy and Kryvyi Rih, referring to a strike on a children’s playground in the southern city which killed 20 earlier this month.
But 34 days had passed since Trump’s proposal, during which Russia continued to attack Ukraine, Zelensky said.
Putin remains committed to waging war and will continue to do so in the absence of serious pressure, said the Ukrainian leader.
