Russia’s ‘malign behavior’ tops G-7 gathering agenda
Consensus elusive in wealthy nations’ club
LIVERPOOL, England – Top diplomats from the Group of Seven industrialized nations on Saturday gathered beside the River Mersey in Liverpool, with host country Britain seeking “a show of unity against global aggressors” amid a crisis over Russia’s intentions toward Ukraine.
The U.K. is seeking elusive consensus from the wealthy nations’ club in response to what it calls “malign behavior” by Russia, and over tensions with China and Iran.
As a Salvation Army band played Christmas carols, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss greeted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other G-7 counterparts with fist bumps in the rotunda of the modernist Museum of Liverpool at the start of the two-day talks.
“We need to defend ourselves against the growing threats from hostile actors,” Truss said as she opened the meeting of foreign ministers from the U.K., the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. “And we need to come together strongly to stand up to aggressors who are seeking to limit the bounds of freedom and democracy.”
Truss and Blinken met late Friday and “expressed deep concern about a buildup of Russian troops on Ukraine’s border,” the British government said. The two politicians said “any incursion by Russia would be a strategic mistake for which there would be serious consequences.”
The U.S. and its NATO allies are concerned that the movement of Russian troops and weapons to the border region may be a prelude to invasion and have said they would inflict heavy sanctions on Russia’s economy if that happens.
Moscow denies planning to attack Ukraine and accuses Kyiv of its own allegedly aggressive designs.
Truss warned before the meeting that “free democratic nations” must wean themselves off Russian gas and Russian money to preserve their independence.
She said she wanted to work with other countries “to make sure that free democratic nations are able to have an alternative to Russian gas supplies,” a reference to the contentious Nord Stream 2 pipeline that was built to carry gas from Russia to Germany.
Truss met on the sidelines of the gathering with Germany’s new foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, a politician from the environmentalist Greens who previously opposed Nord Stream 2.
Britain, which is not dependent on Russian gas, is a critic of the pipeline. But London’s financial district and property market are major hubs for Russian money, and U.K. authorities have long been accused of turning a blind eye to ill-gotten funds from around the world.
The weekend meeting is the final major event of Britain’s year-long G-7 presidency. The diplomats also plan to discuss lagging efforts to vaccinate the world against the coronavirus, tensions in the western Balkans, Afghanistan and North Korea and China’s muscleflexing in the Indo-Pacific region.