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German politician urges G7 to provide long-term support to Ukraine

The head of the European People's Party, Manfred Weber, also believes that the West should expand its reach and attract new partners in Asia, Africa and South America

BERLIN, June 26. /TASS/. Manfred Weber, leader of the European People's Party (EPP) in the European Parliament, has called on Western nations to provide long-term support to Ukraine, speaking ahead of a G7 summit.

The summit "should send a strong message that the free democratic world is united in difficult times," Weber said in an interview with Funke Mediengruppe published on Sunday.

"There should be no doubt that the Western democracies have the stamina to help Ukraine in the longer term," the politician stressed. He also noted that that cooperation between the countries of G7 and the EU is all the more important now when the economically hard times are coming.

He also said that it was a correct decision to invite to the summit representatives from many other democratic states. The Western world should "attract new partners in Asia, Africa or South America, such as India, Indonesia, Argentina, Senegal or South Africa," the politician stated. "China should not be the beneficiary of new conflicts and West’s naivety," he summed up.

The G7 summit opens in Germany on Sunday. The three-day talks are expected to focus on the situation in Ukraine and the consequences of the anti-Russian sanctions. Earlier, Christiane Hoffmann, First Deputy Spokesperson of the Federal Government, said that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky would take part in the summit via a video link-up on June 27.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, responding to requests from the Donbass republics. The US, EU, Britain and some other countries imposed economic sanctions against Russia’s companies and citizens in response.