FT: The US opposes calling Russia an aggressor in G7 joint statement on invasion anniversary

The US opposes calling Russia an aggressor in a G7 statement marking the third anniversary of Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

This is reported by the Financial Times, citing sources.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyʼs participation in the virtual G7 summit on Monday has also not yet been agreed upon, officials said.

The differences arose after the US President Donald Trump accused Ukraine of war, called Zelenskyy a "dictator without elections" and suggested inviting Russia back to the G7.

According to Western officials, US envoys opposed the phrase "Russian aggression" and similar descriptions that G7 leaders have been using since 2022 to describe the war.

"The Americans are blocking this wording, but we are still working on it and hope for an agreement," the publicationʼs interlocutor noted.

Last year’s G7 leaders’ statement mentioned Russian aggression five times. The Trump administration’s insistence on softening the language reflects a broader shift in the US policy toward describing the war as “the conflict in Ukraine”, the sources said.

• In recent days, the United States has been making harsh statements towards Ukraine. In particular, after talks with Russia in Saudi Arabia, Trump criticized Kyiv and Brussels, and also supported holding elections in Ukraine. In his opinion, during the "three years of war" there were opportunities to conclude a peace agreement with Russia.
• The next day, February 19, Trump claimed that Zelensky had only a 4% approval rating. The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology published research showing that as of the first half of February 2025, 57% of Ukrainians trusted Zelensky.
• The President of Ukraine reacted and said that Trump is in a "circle of disinformation."
• Donald Trump later called Zelensky an “unelected dictator” who allegedly persuaded the United States to “spend $350 billion on a war that cannot be won and should never have been started”. Trump said that “Zelensky has done a terrible job, his country is ruined” and that he has little time left.

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