(Adds details from White House, background, PIX)
WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) – Group of Seven (G7) leaders will hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday after U.S. President Joe Biden earlier this week said they would discuss possible additional actions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Talks will focus on the war’s latest developments, efforts to bolster Ukraine and ways to demonstrate “continued G7 unity in our collective response, including by imposing severe costs for Putin’s war,” a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council said on Monday.
The leaders of the G7 countries, which include the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Canada and Italy, will hold their virtual meeting with Zelenskiy on Sunday morning, the spokesperson added.
The U.S. and its allies have previously united on a host of sweeping sanctions targeting Russian banks, officials and other entities aimed at punishing Moscow for its actions, including alleged war crimes. Russia characterizes its invasion as a special operation to demilitarizes and “denazify” Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Biden said he planned to discuss potential additional measures against Moscow for its continuing and intensifying war in neighboring Ukraine, adding that the United States was always open to more sanctions.
“I’ll be speaking with the members of the G7 this week about what we’re going to do or not do,” he told reporters this week, after the European Union proposed its toughest sanctions yet against Russia, including a phased oil embargo.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday declined to preview any specific actions but said the United States was in constant discussions and could act further to pressure Moscow.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who will participate in the call, is also scheduled to give a televised address to the German people on Sunday.
The date marks the anniversary of the end of World War Two and takes on special meaning this year given that Ukraine and Russia — both victims of Nazi Germany — are now at war, a German government spokesperson said. (Reporting by Jeff Mason; writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Katharine Jackson and Raissa Kasolowsky)
