The G7 foreign ministers meeting in Liverpool, northwest England, is the last in-person gathering of Britain’s year-long presidency
The United States on Saturday urged Russia to pull back from the brink over Ukraine, warning that the G7 and its allies will impose tough measures if it abandons diplomacy.
A senior State Department official told reporters at a meeting of the grouping’s top diplomats in Liverpool, northwest England, that Moscow still had time to change course.
“A large number of democratic countries will join us in imposing costs,” they added.
The meeting — at which ministers want to present a united front against authoritarianism — is the last in-person gathering of Britain’s year-long G7 presidency, before it hands the baton to Germany.
“To do this, we need to have a fully united voice. We need to expand our economic and security posture around the world.”
Western concerns are growing over a Russian troop build-up on the border that the Kremlin says is defensive against any move by the former Soviet state eastwards towards NATO.
The meeting comes after US President Joe Biden this week held a virtual summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to try to end the stand-off diplomatically.
She will then head to Brussels for further discussions with NATO and EU allies.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken flies on to southeast Asia next week on a visit designed to highlight the region’s importance in Washington’s push for “peace, security and prosperity” in the Indo-Pacific region against China.
This week, a panel of human rights lawyers and experts in London concluded China had committed genocide by imposing population restrictions, including birth control and forced sterilisations, on its Muslim minority Uyghurs.
Biden has pushed the G7 for a stronger collective stance towards both Russia and China, and this week saw Washington, London and Canberra announce diplomatic boycotts of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Attendees are being pushed to provide those countries with more finance for infrastructure and technology projects, according to the foreign office.
Ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will join the G7 summit for the first time ever on Sunday, in a session earmarked for wide-ranging talks on issues including Covid-19 vaccines, finance and gender equality.
Truss said she wants deeper ties between G7 nations in trade, investment, technology and security to “defend and advance freedom and democracy across the world”.
fff-phz/pbr
…
Originally published as US urges Russia to withdraw from Ukraine border or face ‘massive consequences’
