G7 powers are determined to bolster Ukraine's air defenses, their foreign ministers said Friday, following repeated Russian airstrikes that destroyed energy infrastructure and killed hundreds of people.
The group that brings together Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and representatives of the European Union has strongly criticized Russia's two-year-old invasion of Ukraine.
However, Kiev warned that they need to change strategy if they want Ukraine to resist increasingly destructive Russian airstrikes.
Russia denies targeting civilians and says the energy system is a legitimate target. Still, hundreds of civilians were killed during the air offensives.
The G7 will “strengthen Ukraine's air defense capability to save lives and protect essential infrastructure,” the foreign ministers said, adding that they will increase defense and security assistance to Kiev.
“We are determined to continue providing military, financial, political, humanitarian, economic and development support to Ukraine and its people,” they added.
The G7 statement comes at the end of a three-day meeting of ministers on the southern Italian island of Capri, which had Ukraine and military clashes between Israel and Iran among its main topics.
Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who was in Capri for the meeting, told reporters that the G7 had identified specific measures to help boost Ukraine's air defense. He did not provide further details.
Germany has previously highlighted that it will deliver a battery of Patriot missiles.
After the summit, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that Ukraine needs more resources immediately and warned Beijing that China's relations with Europe would be harmed if it supported Russia's defense industry.
“When it comes to Russia’s defense industrial base, the main contributor right now (…) is China,” Blinken said.
“If, on the one hand, China intends to maintain good relations with Europe and other countries, it cannot, on the other hand, be fueling what is the biggest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War,” he warned.
Source: CNN Brasil
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