ROME: The G7 countries pledged support for Ukraine and new sanctions on Russia after a virtual meeting on Saturday (Feb 24) on the second anniversary of Moscow’s invasion.

In a statement after the meeting, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also attended, the leaders vowed to “raise the cost” of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The G7 leaders didn’t make any public statement about further military aid to Ukraine, but urged “the approval of additional support to close Ukraine’s remaining budget gap for 2024”.

“We will continue to raise the cost of Russia’s war, degrade Russia’s sources of revenue and impede its efforts to build its war machine,” said the group, which includes the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada.

They called on Iran to stop helping Russia’s military and expressed concern about the transfer by Chinese businesses of weapon components, military equipment and dual-use materials to Moscow.

Finally, the G7 leaders demanded that Russia “fully clarify the circumstances” around the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Navalny, the most prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in an Arctic prison last week.

After a week-long stand-off, his body was finally handed over to his mother on Saturday, according to his team.

Zelenskyy used the meeting to plead for more support for his embattled military forces.

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