Barack Obama said he and fellow leaders of the world’s seven industrial powers were prepared to impose tougher sanctions against the Kremlin unless it halts its “provocations” inside Ukraine and convinces pro-Russian rebels to lay down their arms.
The US president and his European counterparts also called on Vladimir Putin – who was excluded from the Group of Seven summit for the first time in 17 years – to recognise the newly elected Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko as the country’s legitimate leader after he is inaugurated this weekend.
“I believe his inauguration provides an opportunity,” Mr Obama said. “Russia needs to seize that opportunity.”