China and Russia have strongly criticized Saturday’s joint statement issued by Group of Seven leaders in Hiroshima, with Moscow claiming the group is pushing the Ukraine war to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia and Beijing accusing Washington of "coercive diplomacy."
"The task was set loudly and openly — to defeat Russia on the battlefield, but not to stop there, but to eliminate it as a geopolitical competitor,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted as saying during a televised news conference Saturday.
"Look at the decisions that are being discussed and adopted today in Hiroshima at the G7... and which are aimed at the double containment of Russia and China," Lavrov added.