Moscow has said the missile attack targeted senior Ukrainian and foreign military officers
US President Donald Trump’s administration has reportedly refused to back a G7 statement condemning Russia’s recent missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, according to sources cited by Bloomberg.
On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed firing two Iskander-M missiles the day before, targeting a gathering of Ukrainian and Western command staff, killing at least 60 senior servicemen.
The Ukrainian authorities, however, have claimed that the Russian missiles struck a military awards ceremony, leaving 35 civilians dead and 129 others injured. Following the attack, Ukraine and a number of its international backers accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians and undermining peace talks.
According to Bloomberg, the G7, which is being presided over by Canada this year, has drafted a joint statement denouncing the strike on Sumy but has not released it due to a lack of US support. In a draft of the statement seen by the outlet, the group said that the attack was proof that Russia was determined to continue the hostilities.
Bloomberg reported that Trump’s team had told the group that it couldn’t sign the statement because it is “working to preserve the space to negotiate peace.”
Since taking office in January, Trump has pushed to get both Moscow and Kiev to the negotiating table and has resumed direct contacts with Russia in order to facilitate a peace deal.
Throughout the Ukraine conflict, Moscow has maintained that it never targets civilian infrastructure. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently emphasized that Russia only strikes military targets.
Russian officials have also stated that Moscow remains open to a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict but have stressed that any settlement must address its root causes. Moscow has demanded that Kiev demilitarize, denazify, give up its NATO ambitions, and adhere to a position of neutrality, and recognize the territorial “realities on the ground.”
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