NNA - Western nations on Monday pledged unwavering support for Ukraine in the war with Russia, including more sanctions on Moscow and air-defence systems, as Russian forces closed in on the last big city still held by Ukrainian troops in eastern Luhansk province.

Leaders of the Group of Seven major democracies, meeting at a summit at an alpine resort in Germany, said they would keep sanctions on Moscow for as long as necessary and would intensify international economic and political pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin's government and its ally Belarus.

"Imagine if we allowed Putin to get away with the violent acquisition of huge chunks of another country, sovereign, independent territory," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the BBC when asked about the possibility the war might drag on for years.

"The lessons for that would be absolutely chilling. The point I would make to people is I think that sometimes the price of freedom is worth paying."—Reuters 

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