We still have aces up our sleeve: Lemmy on G7 strategy regarding pressure on Russia.

The UK Foreign Secretary David Lemmy told parliament members that during a meeting in Canada last week, the foreign ministers of the G7 countries found common ground, although it had previously seemed impossible.

He emphasized that the proposal for a ceasefire is already being considered, and it now depends on Putin how he will respond.

“Now Putin is in the spotlight, Putin must respond, Putin must choose. Are you serious about peace, Mr. Putin? Will you cease hostilities? Will you delay and play games, rhetorically supporting the ceasefire while actually continuing to batter your victim? My warning to Mr. Putin is this – if you are serious, prove it with a full and unconditional ceasefire right now,” Lemmy said.

The minister stressed that Putin is unlikely to want a ceasefire, so the G7 is considering other possible steps.

“If Putin does not meet the demands, and I must inform the house that at this point I see no signs of that, the G7 meeting helped us prepare the tools to force Russia to engage in serious negotiations. We are not waiting for the Kremlin. If they reject the ceasefire, we have more cards we can play. We all see the impact of the unprecedented G7 sanctions on Russia's fragile economy; social expenditures are decreasing, inflation and interest rates are rising. We cannot ease our efforts. In Canada, we discussed what steps can be raised even higher to focus on their energy and defense sectors, and further reduce Russia's oil revenues and the use of frozen Russian assets. At the same Time, we will continue to support Ukraine - Europeans must take their share of responsibility,” Lemmy reported.