NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario (AP) — Top diplomats from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies met with Ukraine's foreign minister Wednesday as Kyiv tries to fend off relentless Russian aerial attacks that have brought rolling blackouts across the country ahead of winter.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said at the start of a meeting on Ukraine and defense cooperation, which U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his counterparts attended, that Kyiv needs to overcome what will be a “very difficult, very tough winter.”
“We need the support of our partners,” Sybiha said. “We have to move forward to pressure Russia, to raise the price for the aggression, for Russia, for Putin, to end this war.”
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand is hosting the summit in southern Ontario as tensions rise between the U.S. and traditional allies like Canada over defense spending, trade and uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan in Gaza and efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
“We are doing whatever is necessary to support Ukraine," Anand said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he wants to order 25 Patriot air defense systems from the United States. Russian missile and drone strikes on the power grid have coincided with Ukraine’s frantic efforts to hold back a Russian battlefield push aimed at capturing the eastern stronghold of Pokrovsk.
Canada announced additional sanctions on Russia that target 13 people and 11 entities, including several involved in the development and deployment of Moscow’s drone program.
“Those who enable Russia's war will face consequences,” Anand said.
Britain says it will send 13 million pounds ($17 million) to help patch up Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches and Russian attacks intensify. The money will go toward repairs to power, heating and water supplies and humanitarian support for Ukrainians.
U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, who made the announcement before the meeting, said Russian President Vladimir Putin “is trying to plunge Ukraine into darkness and the cold as winter approaches” but the British support will help keep the lights and heating on.
Canada recently made a similar announcement.
The two-day meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake, near the U.S. border, comes after Trump ended trade talks with Canada because the Ontario provincial government ran an anti-tariff advertisement in the U.S. that upset him. That followed a spring of acrimony, since abated, over the Republican president’s insistence that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.
Anand will have a meeting with Rubio, but she noted that a different minister leads the U.S. trade file. Trump has placed greater priority on addressing his grievances with other nations’ trade policies than on collaboration with G7 allies.
Rubio had a brief meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and was expected to see several others on the sidelines.
The G7 comprises Canada, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Anand also invited the foreign ministers of Australia, Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, South Korea, South Africa and Ukraine to the meeting, which began Tuesday.
Russia launched its invasion of its neighbor almost four years ago and now occupies roughly one fifth of Ukrainian land. It has expanded its efforts to capture even more Ukrainian territory.