G7 warning to Russia meets rebuke on smears

LIVERPOOL－The G7 group of nations has warned Russia of "massive" consequences if it invades Ukraine, language that brought a swift denunciation from Moscow of a Western smear campaign and another denial that it is planning military action.

Foreign ministers from the richest Western nations and Japan held a two-day meeting in Liverpool, northwest England, seeking to present a united front against so-called global threats. The United Kingdom will hand over the G7 presidency to Germany next year.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Sunday reiterated that Russian troops posed no threat and Moscow was being demonized for moving troops in its own territory.

He said there were very serious conceptual differences between Russia and the United States on Moscow's "red lines".

On Saturday, the Russian embassy in London said in a statement that Britain's frequent use of the phrase "Russian aggression" during the Liverpool meeting was misleading and designed to create a cause for the G7 to rally round.

"Russia has made numerous offers to NATO on ways to decrease tensions. The G7 forum could be an opportunity to discuss them, but so far we hear nothing but aggressive slogans," the statement said.

Russia's buildup of troops on the border with Ukraine dominated the talks.

Tensions between Moscow on one side and Kiev and its Western allies on the other have worsened in recent weeks. Russia has said the military buildup near the border is a defensive measure against Kiev's moving closer to NATO.

Russian officials have repeatedly denied plans to attack Ukraine, and blamed Kiev for its own allegedly aggressive designs. Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged the West to provide guarantees that would preclude NATO from expanding to Ukraine or deploying troops and weapons there.

In the final communique, the G7 ministers backed Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, praising President Volodymyr Zelensky for Kiev's "posture of restraint".

US President Joe Biden last week held a virtual summit with Putin to voice Western concerns.

Germany's new Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, speaking later on Sunday, warned that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia would not be allowed to operate in the event of any new "escalation" in Ukraine, under an agreement between Berlin and Washington.

Also on Sunday, Germany's new Chancellor Olaf Scholz said diplomatic tools like the Normandy Format should be used to de-escalate tensions in Ukraine.

Scholz was speaking alongside Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Warsaw, where the two leaders held talks about migration, energy, European Union matters and the Ukraine crisis.

France and Germany took the lead in brokering a 2015 peace deal between Kiev and the militias in Ukraine's east, under an arrangement known as the Normandy Format.

Scholz vowed solidarity with Poland over the immigrant crisis along the border with Belarus.

Ultimatum for talks

On Iran, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said talks that resumed in Vienna were the Islamic republic's "last chance to come to the negotiating table with a serious resolution".

"There is still time for Iran to come and agree this deal," she told a news conference.

Negotiations restarted on Thursday to try to revive the 2015 landmark deal between Iran and world powers, which the US withdrew from under then-president Donald Trump in 2018.

Iran insists it only wants to develop a civilian capability.

On Monday, Russia said it had reason to expect some progress on the revival of the deal and the likelihood of reaching an agreement had increased, the RIA news agency reported, citing Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.

Biden has said he is ready to return to the agreement and Iranian officials maintain they are serious about committing to the talks.

Truss' comments are the first time a signatory to the original deal has made comments approaching an ultimatum for the talks, Agence France-Presse commented.

Agencies Via Xinhua