G7 foreign ministers meet
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken with their peers from Germany, Japan, Canada, Italy and France at Lancaster House in London before the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting yesterday.
Members of the G7 renewed their support for a political solution to the conflict in Syria, as foreign ministers met in London to discuss shared threats.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said G7 foreign ministers would continue to work to advance all aspects of the UN Security Council’s resolution 2254, which urges a ceasefire and political process, to “end the suffering of Syrians”.
Mr Blinken said the G7 was “united in condemning the coup and the regime’s violence” in Myanmar.
“We urge all countries to reconsider economic ties to the Burmese military,” he said.
He also called for a withdrawal of foreign forces from Libya.
“Shared challenges and rising threats” were discussed yesterday, on the second day of the group’s first face-to-face gathering in more than two years.
Much of the morning session was dedicated to China, with Libya, Russia, the violence in Ethiopia, Iran, North Korea, Somalia, the Sahel and the western Balkans also on the agenda.
A series of separate talks between officials was also held. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab met his French equivalent Jean-Yves Le Drian to discuss climate change, illegal migration across the English Channel, vaccine supply and the situation in the Sahel.
Mr Raab and Italy’s Luigi Di Maio discussed the importance of the Global Coalition against ISIS “in tackling the threat of terrorism from North Africa and the Sahel”.
Mr Blinken held talks with EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell. The EU said a potential US return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was addressed, as was the build-up of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border.
UK officials said the broader G7 talks sought to tackle the “pressing geopolitical issues that threaten to undermine democracy, freedom and human rights”.
Mr Raab met Mr Blinken on Monday, with both keen on a more unified approach.
“The UK’s presidency of the G7 is an opportunity to bring together open, democratic societies and demonstrate unity,” Mr Raab said.
Mr Blinken stressed the need for like-minded countries to come together to tackle shared threats.
“Most of the challenges that we face … not a single one of those challenges can be effectively met by any one country acting alone – even the United States, even the United Kingdom.
“There is, I think, a stronger imperative than at any time since I’ve been involved in these issues to find ways for countries to co-operate, to co-ordinate, to collaborate.”
The G7 – the world’s seven largest advanced economies – is made up of the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US.
Australia, India, South Korea and South Africa were invited as guests to the three-day summit, as the UK tries to bolster ties with the Indo-Pacific region in the post-Brexit era.
Mr Raab said the attendance of countries beyond the G7 was proof of “the increasing demand and need for agile clusters of like-minded countries that share the same values and want to protect the multilateral system”.
Britain, which left the EU last year, is looking to Asia-Pacific countries for new trade and investment opportunities, but also as a reflection of the region’s growing strategic importance.
It wants wider, stronger global commitments on tackling climate change, as it prepares to host the UN climate change summit Cop26 in November.