G7 mins seek common ‘front’ against Moscow
Sanctions not on agenda
TORONTO, Canada, April 22, (Agencies): The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations met in Toronto on Sunday seeking a common front against what they see as aggression from Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
The envoys will also be keen to glean clues from their US colleague about whether President Donald Trump will tear up the Iran nuclear deal and how he will handle a planned summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
The ministers from the world’s most powerful democracies are also meeting to plan for June’s G7 summit of rich-world leaders in Charlevoix, Quebec — but Russia and North Korea will never be far from their minds.
Acting US Secretary of State John Sullivan’s first bilateral meeting in Toronto late Saturday was with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.
“Acting Secretary Sullivan reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.
“He urged Ukraine to redouble reform efforts and adhere to IMF programs by adopting legislation to establish a truly independent anti-corruption court and raising gas tariffs to import parity levels,” she added.
On Sunday, Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland was to host all of her G7 colleagues plus the European Union’s representative at a working lunch to discuss the crisis in Russia and Ukraine.
G7 capitals are also worried about Russia’s role in supporting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime in his country’s brutal civil war and alleged attempt to kill a defector with a nerve agent on Russian soil.
On Monday, the foreign ministers issued a joint statement urging the Kremlin to address “all questions related to the incident” and to make a “full and complete disclosure of its previously undeclared Novichok program.”
Novichok is a group of deadly chemical compounds reportedly developed by the Soviet government in the 1970s and 80s and which Britain suspects was used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in March.
After their lunch, the ministers will also hold a meeting on North Korea and nuclear non-proliferation.
Last month, in one of the most surprising twists in world affairs for decades, Trump accepted an invitation from Pyongyang’s eccentric autocrat Kim to a summit to discuss his nuclear disarmament.
In related news, foreign ministers from the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations will discuss how to maintain pressure on Russia when they meet but extra sanctions are not on the agenda, officials said.
Western nations have imposed a wide array of sanctions against Russia in recent years after it annexed Crimea, supported militants operating in eastern Ukraine and backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Saturday urged Russia to help solve the Syria crisis, which has badly damaged already strained relations between the West and Russia.
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