Reuters joins the G7 in pushing Russia and Ukraine to avoid a crisis

By William James and Humeyra Pamuk

LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) – The group of seven richest democracies on Saturday sought to deter Russia from invading Ukraine by setting up a united front to warn of the serious consequences of any incursions and to demand a return to the Moscow negotiating table.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, US Secretary of State Antony Blink, the European Union and the Foreign Ministers of France, Italy, Germany, Japan and Canada have met in Liverpool, northern England.

While the G7 meeting is worrying the West about China’s military and economic intentions, talks on Iran’s failure to pursue a path to nuclear weapons could fail, and Russia is gathering troops on the Ukrainian border.

A senior US State Department official said the day’s talks were “lively” and said there was still a diplomatic path to ease tensions with Russia.

“If they (Russia) choose not to follow that path, the answer will be big consequences and serious costs, and the G7 is fully united in that,” he said. “The types of costs we are talking about are designed to be implemented very quickly.”

In the opening session of talks, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss asked the G7 to speak with one voice.

“We need to defend ourselves against the growing threats of the enemy actor and join forces to confront attackers who want to limit the limits of freedom and democracy,” they said at the beginning of the meeting.

Ukraine is in the midst of a crisis in East-West relations, accusing Russia of gathering tens of thousands of troops to prepare for a possible large-scale military offensive.

Russia has denied any wrongdoing and accused Ukraine and the United States of destabilizing its conduct, saying it needs security measures.

“We need to take all the action to get back to the conversation,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters. Germany will take the lead in the G7 round from Britain next year.

Washington will send its chief diplomat to Europe, Assistant Secretary-General Karen Donfried, to Ukraine and Russia from December 13 to 15 to meet with senior government officials.

“Assistant Secretary Donfried will emphasize that we can make diplomatic progress in ending the conflict in Donbass by implementing the Minsk agreements in favor of the Normandy format,” the US State Department said in a statement.

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Ministers arrived at the Liverpool Museum with a brass band playing Christmas carols before starting closed-door meetings on development finance, geopolitics and security. Later they went to the city’s musical heritage to dine at an exhibition that told the story of The Beatles.

Britain is calling on G7 members to be tougher in defending what they call the “free world”, and talks have been held all day about Russia, China and Iran. A statement on the results of the interviews is due on Sunday.

The United States, Britain, France and Germany met on Friday night to discuss a way forward for Iran, after talks resumed talks on the resumption of the 2015 nuclear deal in Vienna.

Sunday’s statement is expected to allow Iran to moderate its nuclear program and Iran to seize a multilateral agreement that limits its nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions.