G7 hesitant as Zelenskyy repeats plea for weapons

counter-battery radar systems, administration officials said.

But while Biden and his counterparts responded quickly to some of Zelenskyy’s requests, the summit after two days still lacks consensus on the best path forward, and is working to smoothe over fissures in the trans-atlantic alliance. The G7 leaders did not come together behind any potential off-ramps or a blueprint for ending the war, which has dragged on for four months.

The G7 meeting, which will be followed by a Nato summit in Madrid later this week, is unfolding against continuing events that underscore both the suffering of Ukraine and the challenges facing a weakened and increasingly isolated Russia.

A Russian strike by long-range bombers hit a crowded shopping mall in the industrial city of Kremenchuk in central Ukraine yesterday. At least 16 people were killed and 60 injured, officials said.

Zelenskyy said the mall presented ‘‘no threat to the Russian army’’ and had ‘‘no strategic value’’. He called the attack ‘‘one of the most daring terrorist attacks in European history’’. The United Nations called the strike ‘‘deplorable’’, and the G7 leaders issued a statement condemning the attack.

White House officials said the G7 was ‘‘very close’’ to an agreement on imposing a global price cap on Russian oil shipments, a measure designed to disrupt a key source of funding for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Nato Secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said yesterday the alliance would sharply increase the number of forces it keeps at a high readiness level to 300,000, as part of what he called the ‘‘biggest overhaul of our collective defence and deterrence since the Cold War’’. Nato’s quick-response force currently has about 40,000 troops.

Leaders at the Madrid summit will also discuss plans to bolster the alliance’s eastern flank, outline a new force model, and announce funding decisions.

– Washington Post, AP