G7 vows new Russia sanctions if invasion continues

Berlin: Leaders of the G7 on Sunday threatened fresh sanctions against Russia as the top US diplomat Antony Blinken said the group of wealthy nations was "fully aligned" against Moscow s invasion of Ukraine.

Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States warned in a joint statement that they would "take further steps" to add to the sanctions already announced if Russia did not cease its operation.

Russian military gains in Ukraine achieved through its ongoing campaign leading to "any change of status" such as the annexation of territory "will not be recognised", G7 foreign ministers said in a joint statement.

In a later statement, Blinken said the group has "never been more fully aligned across the globe to defend and preserve the freedom and sovereignty of Ukraine and all states."

G7 nations have already slapped harsh sanctions on Russia for invading neighbouring Ukraine.

The United States and EU have excluded some Russian banks from the international bank payments system SWIFT and personally targeted President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

On Sunday, Japan said it will also join in removing selected Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system, offer millions in humanitarian aid, and seek to identify and freeze assets belonging to Putin and other Russian officials.

Blinken said Tokyo s move demonstrates the G7 s "unity and resolve" and will help to "impose massive costs on Russia and thwart its ability to wage its war of choice on Ukraine."

The European Union on Sunday announced plans to bar Russian planes from its airspace, after individual member states and Britain had earlier taken similar measures.

Russia annexed Ukraine s Crimean peninsula in 2014, but the West has refused to recognise the change in territorial status.

Moscow also backed separatists in Ukraine s eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions from 2014 in a conflict that has claimed more than 14,000 lives, according to monitoring groups.

Putin s decision to recognise the breakaway republics as independent states this week sparked international condemnation as an assault on Ukraine s territorial integrity.

The move proved to be a prelude to Thursday s invasion.

SOURCE: AFP