The foreign ministers unite in condemning Moscow’s military build-up and aggressive rhetoric.<\/b>
\nForeign ministers from the Group of Seven nations on Sunday warned Russia to de-escalate its activities around Ukraine or face \u201cmassive consequences.\u201d In a joint statement, the ministers said they were \u201cunited in our condemnation of Russia\u2019s military build-up and aggressive rhetoric towards Ukraine.\u201d \u201cWe call on Russia to de-escalate, pursue diplomatic channels, and abide by its international commitments on transparency of military activities,\u201d the ministers said in the statement after a meeting in Liverpool, England. While President Biden seeks to strengthen diplomatic pressure and pump up the rhetoric, options for squeezing the Kremlin financially, economically and militarily face their own challenges. The G-7 statement didn\u2019t spell out which consequences Russia might face. The U.S. and European allies are weighing sanctions targeting Russia\u2019s biggest banks and its foreign exchange access, people familiar with the matter said last week. Yet banning Russia\u2019s access to the Swift payments system would harm ordinary citizens, so officials are more inclined to go after its ability to convert rubles into Western currencies, the people said. Germany\u2019s new government, which includes the Green party, has come under pressure to link the fate of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Russia backing off Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose Social Democrats previously backed the natural gas link as Angela Merkel\u2019s junior partner, hasn\u2019t tipped his hand yet. Biden on Saturday warned Russia of \u201cdevastating\u201d economic penalties if it attacks Ukraine and said more U.S. and NATO troops would be sent to defend allies. Separately, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke with her German counterpart on Friday to discuss steps that could \u201cimpose severe costs on Russia\u2019s economy\u201d if needed. With increasing numbers of troops and military equipment deployed near Ukraine\u2019s border, the U.S. has warned for weeks that Russian President Vladimir Putin has drawn up plans for an invasion that could take place in early 2022. Putin has denied any intention to invade. Putin and Biden spoke on a two-hour video call last week, in which the Russian said he\u2019d be prepared for an in-person meeting, according to footage shown on the Rossiya-1 TV channel on Sunday. That\u2019s \u201cpretty unlikely\u201d right now, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview with NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press\u201d on Sunday. Since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and backed a separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine in 2014, the U.S. has imposed a series of sanctions, including travel bans, asset freezes and finance and trade restrictions. Those measures, and European economic sanctions, have failed to dislodge Russia or halt fighting in eastern Ukraine. A senior State Department official expressed confidence on Saturday that a broad group of countries, including other G-7 nations, would join in imposing costs on Russia if it moved on Ukraine. G-7 members agree that changing European borders by force would have \u201cenormous political and economic consequences,\u201d Annalena Baerbock, appointed last week as Germany\u2019s first female foreign minister, said in comments on ARD television. Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page. Enter your email and password to access comments. Forgot Password? Don’t have a Talk profile? Create one. Invalid username\/password. Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration. Create a commenting profile by providing an email address, password and display name. You will receive an email to complete the registration. Please note the display name will appear on screen when you participate. Already registered? Log in to join the discussion. Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login to participate in the conversation. Here\u2019s why. Use the form below to reset your password. When you’ve submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code. Send questions\/comments to the editors. \u00ab Previous Next\u00bb<\/p>\n