What Kyiv and the G7 made of events around 12 June 2018
A look back at the Ukrainian parliament's vote on an anti-corruption court and the G7 debate over Russia's place in the group.
What was the political backdrop in Ukraine's orbit on 12 June 2018? Two developments from the days just before that date framed it: a vote in Kyiv on a new court, and an argument among G7 leaders over Russia.
On 7 June 2018, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a law on the High Anti-Corruption Court. The vote came a few days before 12 June 2018.
Abroad, the 44th G7 summit produced a separate dispute. On 8 June 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump called for Russia to be reinstated in the group. Russia had been suspended from it after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The Prime Minister of Italy, Giuseppe Conte, supported the call, while most other G7 leaders rejected it. On 9 June 2018, Trump again called for Russia's return.
The Crimea issue behind the suspension was one Ukraine had lived with since February and March 2014, when Russia invaded the peninsula, occupied it and then annexed it after a referendum described as illegitimate.
