After Trump blamed Zelenskyy for starting the war, US opposes G-7 statement calling Russia aggressor: Report

The US has opposed calling Russia an ‘aggressor’ in a G-7 statement marking the third anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, reports the Financial Times.

The Times, citing five Western officials familiar with the matter, reported that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s participation at the virtual G-7 summit is also not confirmed yet. The summit is slated to be held on Monday (February 24).

The development comes after Trump earlier this week blamed Zelenskyy for starting the war and dubbed him “dictator without elections”. Trump earlier this month also suggested that Russia must be invited back to the G-7 bloc.

“We are adamant that there must be a distinction made between Russia and Ukraine. They are not the same,” the Times quoted an official as saying. “The Americans are blocking that language, but we are still working on it and hopeful of an agreement,” the official added.

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Notably, the ‘Russian aggression’ phrase was mentioned at least five times in the 2024 statement released by the group, making the second anniversary of the war.

“We call on Russia to immediately cease its war of aggression and completely and unconditionally withdraw its military forces from the internationally recognised territory of Ukraine,” the statement said.

The bloc of rich nations has been issuing a statement on the anniversaries of the war, condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Ukraine ‘conflict’, not war

According to the officials, the shift reflects a broader change in US policy to refer to the war as “conflict”.

Even during Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh, the US State Department used the phrase “the conflict in Ukraine”.

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Trump has spent last week spatting with Zelenskyy, accusing him of doing a “terrible job” and claiming he had an approval rating of just 4 per cent.

“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” wrote Trump on Truth Social platform.

Earlier on Wednesday, Trump called Zelenskyy a “grossly incompetent” leader and a poor negotiator.

Responding to Ukraine’s outrage over its alleged exclusion from US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, Trump dismissed the complaints, saying it should have ended the war long ago.

“Today I heard, ‘oh, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” Trump said.

(With inputs from agencies)