G-7 Agrees to Expand Economic Aid to Ukraine to 39 B. Dlrs

Bengaluru, India, Feb. 23 (Jiji Press)--Finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of Seven major powers Thursday agreed to boost this year's financial and economic support for Ukraine to 39 billion dollars from 32 billion dollars.

"We reaffirm our unwavering support for Ukraine and unity in our condemnation of Russia's war of aggression," the G-7 officials said in a statement adopted at a meeting in Bengaluru, India, the day before the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"Our sanctions have significantly undermined Russia's capacity to wage its illegal war," the statement said. "We will continue to closely monitor the effectiveness of sanctions and take further actions as needed."

The G-7 members--Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union--confirmed their unity toward an early end to the war. They also called for other countries to join sanctions against Russia.

At the meeting, Japan, this year's G-7 president, announced its fresh aid of 5.5 billion dollars to Ukraine, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told a news conference. "We must play our role as president."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]