G7 Foreign Ministers' Two-Day Meeting Kicks Off

The two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the G7 countries has kicked off in Liverpool, England, on Saturday. According to participants, the ministers will focus on the situation in Ukraine, cooperation with Russia, the protection of human rights worldwide, and the fight against the pandemic, TASS reports.

Erica Barks-Ragless, head of the Bureau of International Organizations at the U.S. State Department, indicated this week that Washington expects to discuss the alleged planned Russian attack on Ukraine during the upcoming meeting.

“Our goal is to have predictable and stable relations with Russia. We see very clearly the aggressive actions of Russia towards its neighbors. We are closely monitoring this,” she said.

“We are working with our partners to understand that when Russia’s behavior crosses a line, those responsible states have to pay for it. Thus, we are prepared to discuss this. I think it is clear that we and our allies in the G7 have a common goal regarding these concerns,” said the U.S. State Department representative while commenting on the agenda of the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting.

It is expected that the communiqué resulting from the Liverpool meeting will highlight the inadmissibility of escalating conflict in Donbas. The tone of the future document is anchored in a statement from the leaders of five G7 countries (United Kingdom, Italy, USA, France, and Germany) released on December 7 after a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Biden. In that statement, Washington and its European allies “unreservedly supported Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” noting that “Russia must de-escalate tensions and seek a diplomatic solution, including the implementation of the Minsk agreements in the Normandy format.”

Earlier, Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Russian president, stated that Russia is registering an information campaign by Western countries aimed at presenting Moscow as a threat to the Ukraine settlement process. Peskov did not rule out that this campaign disguises