Zelensky warns Putin ‘still has the wherewithal to escalate’ after two days of heavy Russian bombardment

The member countries of the G7, gathered for a crisis meeting on the situation in Ukraine on Tuesday afternoon, promised at the end of their exchanges of “demand accounts” to Vladimir Putin, the day after Russian bombings which massively affected the country and caused the death of at least nineteen people.

“We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms and recall that indiscriminate attacks against innocent civilians constitute a war crime”the leaders said in a statement, after an online meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The G7 Heads of State and Government also “deplored Russia’s strategy of deliberate escalation, including partial mobilization of reservists and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, which jeopardizes global peace and security”. They warned Moscow, reaffirming that “Any use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons by Russia would have serious consequences” and brandished the threat of new economic sanctions.

Moreover, according to them, the announcement of the creation of a joint military force between Minsk and Moscow constitutes “ the most recent example of complicity” of Belarus with Russia in the war against Ukraine. “We reiterate our call on the authorities of Belarus to stop allowing the Russian armed forces to use” their territory to support the war effort, they said.

In a tweet released after the meeting, US President Joe Biden reaffirmed the“unwavering commitment” members of the G7 “to hold Russia accountable for its war and to support Ukraine as long as necessary”.