UK PM Liz Truss to virtually meet with G7 leaders, Ukraine's Zelenskyy amid war escalation

British Prime Minister Liz Truss will be joining the G7 virtual summit today, October 11. The meeting is being held after Russia carried out the most significant missile strikes on Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion back in February. According to reports from The Guardian, the missile strikes on Kyiv and other key Ukrainian cities were carried out by Russia to target Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. 

Russia carried out the missile strikes after the bridge connecting Crimea with the Russian mainland came under attack. British news organisation iTV reported that Putin faced pressure from Russians after the bomb blast on Crimea bridge, which nudged him to carry out the missile strikes. Currently, Germany chairs the G7 and Germany has stated that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be attending the summit as well.

Truss will ask her fellow G7 leaders to continue the economic sanctions on Russia. She will also call for a meeting of NATO leaders, as per information on the British government’s website. The virtual summit will be the first one for G7 leaders since Ukraine began its counter-offensive. Truss will reportedly use the summit to state to her fellow G7 leaders that maintaining support for Ukraine is crucial. Britain has committed £2.3 billion in military support to Ukraine, as per the data disclosed by the British government. This military assistance has armed Ukraine with Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, thousands of rounds of ammunition, hundreds of rockets, vital defence vehicles and five air defence systems. The G7 consists of the US, UK, Germany, Canada, France, Italy and Japan. 

The Kyodo news agency of Japan has reported that Japan reopened its embassy in Kyiv on October 5. Whilst addressing the summit, Truss will say that ”nobody wants peace more than Ukraine. And for our part, we must not waver one iota in our resolve to help them win it,” as per the extracts released by the British government. US and UK are the two countries that have provided the most significant military assistance to Ukraine. The former British prime minister Boris Johnson, during the last days of his tenure, visited a site in Britain where British special forces were training Ukrainian soldiers. Earlier during the Tory party leadership contest, Truss had stated that Britain will continue to support Ukraine irrespective of who the prime minister is.

Image: AP