Recent reports on the possibility of expanding the G7 – once again – to include the Russian Federation have sent shock waves through the global Ukrainian community.
Such an unimaginable move in the reality of today’s geopolitical climate would make an absolute mockery of the G7 Hague Declaration adopted on March 24, 2014 by G7 Leaders and European Union presidents in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence.
The G7 Hague Declaration states unequivocally that the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, the president of the European Council and the president of the European Commission met in The Hague to:
(1) reaffirm their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence;
(2) strongly condemn Russia’s illegal attempt to annex Crimea in contravention of international law and specific international obligations;
(3) notify that they remain ready to intensify actions including coordinated sectoral sanctions that will have an increasingly significant impact on the Russian economy, if Russia continues to escalate this situation; and
(4) suspend their participation in the G8 format until Russia changes course and the environment comes back to where the G8 is able to have a meaningful discussion.
Since the G7 Hague Declaration, Russia has clearly accentuated its utter disdain for international law and the fundamental values shared by all G7 member states and the EU.
Indeed, not only has Russia continued to occupy Crimea in direct violation of its international obligations, but it has also subsequently invaded and continues its illegal occupation of parts of eastern Ukraine.
As a result of Russia’s incessant military aggression against Ukraine, over 13,000 individuals have been killed and over 30,000 injured in the Donbas and there are currently over 1.5 million internally displaced persons in Ukraine.
This merciless military aggression also led to the shooting down of civilian flight MH17 in July 2014 by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine horrifying the world and devastating some 300 families in the Netherlands, Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Philippines, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.
Moreover, human rights organizations report persistent blatant abuses of the religious, political, linguistic, and cultural rights and freedoms of the Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian populations in Crimea, the inhabitants of the Russian-occupied territories in the Donbas, and Ukrainian political and military prisoners in Russia.
Based on today’s global climate of cross-border mobilized protests, civil society is demonstrating very clearly its intolerance of all forms of racism and basic human rights violations.
Beyond Ukraine, since the G7 Hague Declaration, Russia has engaged in various forms of hybrid aggression in other parts of the world.
Russia has interfered in democratic processes in the West, including the 2016 United States presidential election and the 2017 French presidential election, plotted the violent overthrow of the elected government in Montenegro, fueled separatism in Catalonia and financially backed foreign political parties. There have been political assassinations, including a failed attempt to deploy a chemical nerve agent against a Kremlin target in suburban England. Russia has been denounced for cyberattacks against government systems and vital elements of infrastructure across the Western world. Russia is also engaged in massive disinformation campaigns aimed to discredit and weaken the West, including G7 member states and the EU.
Incredibly, while the world has come together to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia has continued to breach with impunity its international human rights and ceasefire obligations in Ukraine.
Under these circumstances, any talk of expanding the G7 to include the Russian Federation, even if ultimately dismissed, will nevertheless exhibit an appearance of discord in this respect. This will be interpreted as a sign of weakness of the G7 and the EU, and embolden Russia to tighten its grip on Crimea and continue its expansionist policies in eastern Ukraine and other parts of the world to the detriment of the G7 member states, the EU and global security.
Therefore, the G7 Leaders and EU presidents should issue a clear declaration confirming:
(i) their commitment to the implementation of the G7 Hague Declaration;
(ii) their continued support of Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence; and
(iii) that they shall not reinstate their participation in the former G8 format nor invite the Russian Federation to participate in future G7 summits until such time as Russia has unequivocally demonstrated that it shares the fundamental values of the G7 member states and the EU, including respect for the principles of sovereignty and non‑interference in the affairs of other states, and has fully ceased its illegal occupation of Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine.
Eugene Czolij is president of Ukraine-2050 and served as president of the Ukrainian World Congress from 2008-2018. The non-governmental organization Ukraine-2050 is a non-profit organization established to help implement, within one generation – by 2050 – strategies for the sustainable development of Ukraine as a fully independent, territorially integral, democratic, reformed, and economically competitive European state.
