Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told G7 leaders Wednesday that Russia had ramped up pressure on the front lines and warned Moscow was counting on Western unity to “collapse” next year.
The virtual G7 meeting, attended by Kyiv’s key allies including US President Joe Biden and UK leader Rishi Sunak, comes amid fears Western support for Ukraine could wane as it makes limited progress on the battlefield.
“Russia hopes only for one thing — that next year the free world’s consolidation will collapse,” Zelensky said, warning President Vladimir Putin had “significantly increased pressure on the front”.
“We must win the battle for motivation. The motivation of our people and all of Europe. The ongoing battle is not just about the fate of Ukraine, it’s about Europe,” Zelensky told the leaders.
He also called on EU members to “fulfil” their promise of opening membership talks with Kyiv, as the 27-member bloc geared up for a summit next week.
The European Commission recommended opening formal membership negotiations with Ukraine in November, but talks cannot officially start unless all member states agree.
Despite a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has employed billions of dollars’ worth of Western weapons, the front lines in the 21-month conflict have barely shifted in more than a year.
But attacks along the front have intensified, including around the strategically important town of Avdiivka.
Biden says ‘if Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there’
Joe Biden issued a stark warning Wednesday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin “won’t stop there” if he is successful in seizing Ukraine, as the US president urged Congress to provide emergency funding to Kyiv.
“If Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there… He’s going to keep going, he’s made that pretty clear,” Biden said at the White House.
And if Russia attacks a member of the NATO alliance, Biden warned, “then we’ll have something that we don’t seek, and that we don’t have today: American troops fighting Russian troops… if he moves into other parts of NATO.”
