CNN
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A diplomatic back-and-forth is underway among Group of Seven members over a joint statement marking the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the United States resisting a reference to “Russian aggression” in the document.
The dispute, described by two Western officials familiar with the matter, reflects the larger shift in approach from the White House to the conflict. President Donald Trump has blamed the war on Ukraine, and likened its wartime president to a “dictator.”
That stands in stark contrast to how the Biden administration, along with its allies in the G7, have described the war over the last three years.
The group is set to convene virtually next week around Monday’s anniversary of the invasion, but resistance from Washington over pinning blame on Russia for the conflict is threatening Western resolve as the war enters its fourth year.
“Russian aggression” has been used in G7 statements dating back to the start of the conflict, as has the descriptor of the conflict as an “illegal war of aggression.” The bloc has acted as something of a steering committee for marshaling assistance to Kyiv.
Now, envoys from Washington have voiced concern over how the war is framed in the document, the officials said. Trump has also suggested Russia be allowed to rejoin the G7 after it was ejected for annexing Crimea in 2014.
The officials said the US was resisting language assigning blame on Russia for the war, but that other nations in the group have been adamant that any softening of the statement would amount to a win for Moscow.
“The talks are still happening,” one of the officials said, “but there is a lot of concern at equivocating who is responsible for the war.”
The Financial Times first reported on the continued talks.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment, but in a press briefing Thursday, US national security adviser Mike Waltz said the president remained angry at Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky, a day after he accused him of being a dictator.
“President Trump is obviously very frustrated right now with President Zelenskyy,” he said. “The fact that he hasn’t come to the table, that he hasn’t been willing to take this opportunity that we have offered – I think he eventually will get to that point, and I hope so very quickly. But President Trump, as we made clear to our Russian counterparts and I want to make clear today, he’s focused on stopping the fighting and moving forward.”
Trump has insisted on multiple occasions this week that it is Ukraine, not Russia, that is responsible for the conflict.
“Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won,” he wrote on social media Wednesday.
Other Western leaders have quickly distanced themselves from that sentiment. French President Emmanuel Macron, who will meet Trump at the White House on Monday, said he would warn his US counterpart “not to be weak in the face” of Putin.
“I know Donald Trump. For four years, we were [both] in charge already during my first term. So he is someone I respect, who I believe respects me,” Macron said.
“I’m going to say to [Trump], ‘Deep down you can’t be weak in the face of Putin, it’s not you, it’s not your trademark,” the French president continued.
He said later that he’d spoken to Zelensky for a second day in a row to coordinate his upcoming visit to Washington.
In Kyiv on Thursday, Trump’s envoy to Russia and Ukraine, Gen. Keith Kellogg, met with Zelensky to discuss US-led efforts to end the war. He was there, in part, to convince Zelensky to agree to American proposals that would provide the US mineral revenues from Ukraine as payment for past assistance.
Zelensky’s refusal to accept the plan angered the White House. Trump’s aides accused the Ukrainian leader of not being appreciative enough for American support.
“There needs to be a deep appreciation for what the American people, what the American taxpayer, what President Trump did in his first term, and what we’ve done since,” Waltz said. “So some of the rhetoric coming out of Kyiv, frankly, and insults to President Trump, were unacceptable.”
