G7 Leaders Warn Russia Against Use Of Chemical, Biological Or Nuclear Weapons

BRUSSELS  -In a joint statement Thursday, the leaders of the G7 warned Russia against using chemical, biological or nuclear weapons in the invasion of Ukraine.
“We warn against any threat of the use of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons or related materials,” the leaders wrote after meeting in Brussels.
They also denounced Russia’s attempts at disinformation suggesting Ukraine was preparing to use a chemical or nuclear weapon.
“We categorically denounce Russia’s malicious and completely unfounded disinformation campaign against Ukraine, a state in full compliance with international non-proliferation agreements. We express concern about other countries and actors that have amplified Russia’s disinformation campaign,” the leaders wrote.
Without mentioning China specifically, the leaders alluded to Beijing’s consideration of providing Russia military or financial assistance.
“We will continue to cooperate closely, including by engaging other governments on adopting similar restrictive measures to those already imposed by G7 members and on refraining from evasion, circumvention and backfilling that seek to undercut or mitigate the effects of our sanctions,” the leaders wrote.
The G7 said, “We are concerned by the escalating and reinforced repression against the Russian people and the increasingly hostile rhetoric of the Russian leadership, including against ordinary citizens.”
And without taking an explicit stance on Russia’s participation in the G20, the leaders said that “international organisations and multilateral fora should no longer conduct their activities with Russia in a business as usual manner.”
Zelensky calls for worldwide protests against Russia’s war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an impassioned plea Thursday for citizens worldwide to pour onto streets and squares in global protest against Russia’s invasion.
In a late-night television address from the emptied streets of his nation’s besieged capital Kyiv, a defiant but visibly tired Zelensky appealed in English for worldwide solidarity.
“The world must stop the war,” he said. “Come from your offices, your homes, your schools and universities, come in the name of peace, come with Ukrainian symbols to support Ukraine, to support freedom, to support life.”
His appeal came one month after Russian tanks rolled over the border, bringing a conflict that has killed untold thousands of civilians and soldiers on both sides. More than ten million Ukrainians have already fled homes and cities under sustained Russian bombardment from land, sea and air.

We categorically denounce Russia’s malicious and completely unfounded disinformation campaign against Ukraine, say G7 leaders