Baku, February 21, AZERTAC

The United States is opposing calling Russia the aggressor in the war with Ukraine in a Group of 7 statement being drafted to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, New York times reported citing four senior officials from countries involved.

The American objections to the statement come after President Trump earlier this week blamed Ukraine for starting the war, which in fact began with Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

One senior official from a Group of 7 country said that Canada had circulated the first draft of the statement to the other six member countries. That version, the official said, used language that retained the pro-Ukraine tone the group of allies adopted after the full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.

The U.S. side went through that first draft this week and removed all references that could be interpreted as being pro-Ukraine, the official said. The result, the official added, was a neutral draft statement that made no references to Russia as the aggressor in the conflict, nor to Ukraine as the victim of the invasion.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the discussions.

Canada took the lead in writing the draft because it currently holds the presidency of the Group of 7.

Diplomats are continuing to work on the language in the draft, which currently describes “a devastating war that began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” but does not use the words “Russian aggression” or “aggressors,” which have been in Group of 7 statements since 2022, senior German and European officials said.

The U.S. objection to labeling Russia as an aggressor was reported earlier by The Financial Times.

Another senior official from a Group of 7 nation added that the drafting and negotiating over the text could continue until Monday, when the text is set to be published.

Similarly, it is not yet settled whether the Group of 7 leaders who will meet virtually on Monday will invite President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to participate, as he did last year, the official said.

The American objections follow a bitter exchange of insults between Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Trump. The U.S. president has vowed to try to end the war rapidly and has authorized envoys to hold talks with Russia without the involvement of Kyiv or European nations.

The officials emphasized that the Group of 7 draft was not finished but also said that it was important to come up with a mutually agreed to statement, which is never easy and always requires “wordsmithing.”

Canada began the drafting process by adhering to expressions used in previous Group of 7 statements on the war, which condemned Russia at some length. But Trump administration officials indicated they wanted something different from and shorter than the statement issued under former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and sought to ensure it did not interfere or block the negotiations now underway with Russia, the officials said.

The Americans also wanted to cut passages that described the invasion as a breach of sovereignty, one official said.

For now, the current draft includes a statement that says strong security guarantees and Ukraine’s integration into the European Union “will be critical to secure a lasting peace that prevents future aggression.”

Negotiations are continuing, so the final language is still to be determined.

Foreign affairs ministers from the Group of 7 are scheduled to meet in Quebec from March 12 to 14. The countries’ leaders are scheduled to meet in Alberta in mid-June.

The last time Canada was the Group of 7 chair, during Mr. Trump’s first term in 2018, the president walked out of a summit meeting in Quebec and withdrew his support for the final joint communiqué, angry about its language on trade.