G7 leaders vow to back Ukraine ‘as long as necessary’

German chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned there is “no way back” for Russia as a partner of the west after another wave of deadly rocket attacks in Ukraine.

At their meeting in Bavaria, G7 leaders promised to support Ukraine “as long as necessary”, pledging an additional €28 billion in budgetary aid and promising to support an international reconstruction conference.

They also unveiled further measures to “severely impair” Russia’s war effort: clamping down on gold sales, restricting still further Russian access to “key industrial inputs, services and technologies” while hunting down those responsible for “stealing and exporting Ukrainian grain”.

“[Russia’s] military-industrial complex has been sapped of critical components, its economy has contracted,” said G7 leaders in a statement. “Its central bank’s foreign reserves have been largely immobilised and the kleptocracy is being held to account for its ill-gotten gains.”

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In a statement ending the second of three days of negotiations, G7 host Olaf Scholz said the group’s members would “increase pressure on Putin still further, this war has to end”.

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy used a private video conference to urge G7 leaders to push Russia hard to end its way by year-end.

He spoke of “the harshness of winter ... where it is more difficult to fight”, according to one European source, and warned of “a situation where positions will be frozen”.

“G7 leaders have enough joint potential to stop Russian aggression,” said Mr Zelenskiy in a video message ahead of the G7 address, in which he reportedly repeated a demand for anti-aircraft defence systems and further assistance to export Ukrainian grain.

An estimated 20 million tonnes of grain are trapped in Ukrainian ports but unable to be exported because the Black Sea is littered with mines and the waters are patrolled by Russian warships.

Germany has already promised a defence system, suitable for protecting a large city from rocket attack, while US officials say a deal is near to supply a Norwegian-made advanced surface-to-air missile defence system.

“We do intend to finalise a package that includes advanced medium- and long-range air defence capabilities for the Ukrainians,” said US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, “along with some other items that are of urgent need, including ammunition for artillery and counterbattery radar systems”.

Attack on Odesa

As well as aid promises, G7 leaders have flagged closer co-operation with Kyiv on intelligence and maritime security, hours after another attack on the port of Odesa.

In a joint statement, they called on Russia to end its “war of choice” and withdraw from “the entire territory of Ukraine” — dispelling speculation that G7 members would pressure Ukraine to cede territory in Donbas in a peace deal.

British prime minister Boris Johnson said it was essential that Ukraine’s western allies learn from mistakes in the second World War, in particular their slow push-back against “tyranny and aggression”.

Monday’s sessions in Bavaria focused on climate measures and food security concerns, with talks in the afternoon with UN general secretary António Guterres.

In a round of climate talks with guest countries Argentina, India, Indonesia, Senegal and South Africa, G7 members announced no new measures but “agreed to work together to accelerate a clean and just transition towards climate neutrality, while ensuring energy security”.

Greenpeace criticised the G7 paper for having “neither binding goals nor a clear financial framework” on exiting fossil fuels or achieving a 1.5-degree rise in average temperatures.

“Olaf Scholz and the G7 must now give new hope with clear decisions for a faster exit from gas, oil and coal by the end of the summit,” said Greenpeace Germany head Martin Kaiser.

On Monday evening, Bavarian police said they arrested six demonstrators trying to access the Schloss Elmau complex where the meeting is taking place amid tight security.