PM call with world leaders: 28 February 2022

The Prime Minister spoke to G7 and other world leaders this afternoon about the situation in Ukraine.

The leaders agreed that the valiant resistance to the Russian invasion we are seeing in Ukraine is truly inspirational. The Prime Minister stressed the need for countries to continue supporting the Ukrainian Government, including with the provision of defensive weapons. He also underlined the need for an international response to the emerging humanitarian crisis, including through supporting Ukraine’s neighbours to deal with large numbers of Ukrainians escaping violence in the country.

The Prime Minister welcomed the unity of message and action between countries in recent days in response to Russia’s invasion. He stressed the need to continue applying pressure on Putin’s regime, including on SWIFT, with sanctions and with trade restrictions. The Prime Minister commended the progress over the weekend with all G7 countries agreeing to remove Russian banks from SWIFT.

The Prime Minister also paid tribute to his fellow leaders’ renewed commitments to bolster the NATO alliance, including Chancellor Scholz’s pledge to massively increase Germany’s spending on defence.

The leaders agreed to pursue every avenue to ensure that Putin fails in his ambitions.