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G7 states committed to protecting information environment against "foreign manipulation"

The G7 group of nations accused Russia of "the widespread use of disinformation"

WANGELS /Germany/, May 14. /TASS/. The G7 group of nations (the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, the US, France and Japan) accused Russia of "the widespread use of disinformation," committing to protect its "information environment against foreign information manipulation and interference," according to G7 Foreign Ministers’ Communique passed on Saturday following a three-day meeting in the Wangels municipality in the north of Germany.

"We are committed to protecting our information environment against foreign information manipulation and interference including disinformation designed to deceive and mislead audiences for political or financial gain, threatening to destabilize the fabric of our rules-based international system. We condemn the widespread use of disinformation, by the Russian Government, its affiliated media and proxies to support its military aggression against Ukraine," the document said.

"We will counter attempts to interfere in our information environment and apply costs for actors engaging in such activity," heads of G7 foreign ministries said, adding that they "commit to championing free and independent media at home and around the world."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation, after which the US, the EU, the UK, as well as some other states, imposed sanctions against Russian persons and legal entities, as well as sped up arms supplies to Kiev.