The United States is opposing calling Russia the aggressor in the war with Ukraine in a Group of 7 statement being drafted to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, three senior officials from countries involved said on Thursday.

The American objections to the statement come after President Trump earlier this week blamed Ukraine for starting the war, which in fact began with Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

One senior official from a Group of 7 country said that Canada had circulated the first draft of the statement to the other six member countries. That version, the official said, used language that retained the pro-Ukraine tone the group of allies adopted after the full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.

The U.S. side went through that first draft this week and removed all references that could be interpreted as being pro-Ukraine, the official said. The result, the official added, was a neutral draft statement that made no references to Russia as the aggressor in the conflict, nor to Ukraine as the victim of the invasion.

Canada took the lead in writing the draft because it currently holds the presidency of the Group of 7.

Diplomats are continuing to work on the language in the draft, which currently describes “a devastating war that began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” but does not use the words “Russian aggression” or “aggressors,” which have been in Group of 7 statements since 2022, senior German and European officials said.