G7 countries, EU ready to provide Ukraine with further assistance, including military equipment and financial means – statement

The G7 countries and the EU are ready to provide Ukraine with further assistance, including military equipment and financial means, so that it can protect itself from Russian aggression and restore Ukraine, the G7 foreign ministers and the European Union High Representative have said.

"In the presence of the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, we expressed today our heart-felt solidarity with the Ukrainian people and our deepest condolences to the victims of this war and their families. We underline our unwavering support for Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders and express our readiness to assist further, including with military equipment and financial means, to allow Ukraine to defend itself against Russia's aggression and to rebuild Ukraine," the top officials said in a statement posted on the website of the government of the UK on Thursday.

The G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, said that they condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces in Bucha and a number of other Ukrainian towns.

"Haunting images of civilian deaths, victims of torture, and apparent executions, as well as reports of sexual violence and destruction of civilian infrastructure show the true face of Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and its people. The massacres in the town of Bucha and other Ukrainian towns will be inscribed in the list of atrocities and severe violations of international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights, committed by the aggressor on Ukrainian soil," they said.

The foreign ministers and the high representative underscored that those responsible for these heinous acts and atrocities, including any attacks targeting civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure, will be held accountable and prosecuted.

"We welcome and support the ongoing work to investigate and gather evidence of these and other potential war crimes and crimes against humanity, including by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor, the Commission of Inquiry mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, the Human Rights Monitoring Mission Ukraine of the OHCHR, and the OSCE's mission of experts mandated by OSCE Participating States," they said in the statement.

The officials said that they will provide investigative support, technical experts and funding, and will continue to promote accountability for all those complicit in Moscow’s war of choice, including the Lukashenka regime in Belarus.

"We are convinced that now is the time to suspend Russian membership of the Human Rights Council," they said in the statement.

In addition, Russia must immediately comply with the legally binding order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to suspend the military operations that it commenced on 24 February 2022 in the territory of Ukraine. Further, we urge Russia to withdraw completely its military forces and equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders, they said.