BERLIN — The Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations have assured Ukraine of their continued support in the defensive struggle against Russia, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday evening after a video conference with the other leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Ukraine would be supported “as long as it is necessary,” Scholz said, and economic pressure on Russia would be kept high.

The meeting came the day after Zelenskyy spoke to U.S. President Joe Biden and was assured of further support as Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grids continue. Many in the southern Odessa region are now without electricity. Improving Ukraine’s air defense would be a priority, the White House said.

Zelenskyy praised the “unprecedented defense and financial assistance” given by the U.S., according to the statement.

Zelenskyy also spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron — himself a G7 leader — and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday.

German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said on Monday there was no special reason for the 90-minute meeting, and that it “had been planned for some time.”

Despite the sustained attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure, Russia does not currently have the capabilities for territorial conquests in Ukraine, according to a British intelligence assessment.

The Defense Ministry in London said Russia likely still aims to extend control over Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson provinces.

All four were illegally annexed in late September, although the Kremlin presides neither politically nor militarily across the regions and Kiev has made significant progress in recapturing territory in recent months.

“Russian ground forces are unlikely to make operationally significant advances within the next several months,” the Defense Ministry said.

The British Ministry of Defense has been publishing updates on the war since Russia’s full-scale invasion erupted in late February. In doing so, the British government aims to counter the Russian narrative. Moscow accuses London of a disinformation campaign.

On the ground in eastern Ukraine, heavy fighting continued near the towns of Bakhmut and Andriivka in the Donbass region on Monday, according to Kiev.

Several advances by Russian troops have been repelled in the area, the Ukrainian general staff said in the evening.

In the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, several people were killed and others injured following Russian missile attacks, according to the report.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force targeted Russian troops as well as armored vehicles in several attacks, the military in Kiev said, without providing further details on the location of the attacks.

During the G7 meeting, the leaders also adopted a constitution to establish an international climate club, with the aim for particularly ambitious countries to cooperate in the fight against global warming, Scholz said on Monday.

Scholz had already initiated the climate club at the beginning of the year at the start of the German G7 Presidency.

The main issue is the climatefriendly restructuring of industry, he said. Common rules and standards must be agreed upon so that competition is not distorted in view of the high investments, Scholz said in November at the U.N. climate summit in Egypt.

In principle, the club should be open to all countries, regardless of size, level of economic development and political system. Scholz has also explicitly invited China to participate in the initiative.