G7 grapples with Ukraine war, China clout, Iran crackdown
- Meeting in Germany, foreign ministers from the world’s major nations were taking stock of Ukraine’s situation and its ripple effects far from Europe
- The diplomats are also looking to further harmonise policies related to Chinese investment as well as to caution against antagonistic moves against Taiwan
Top diplomats from the world’s major industrialised democracies are grappling with the implications of Russia’s war in Ukraine, China’s growing economic clout and aims on Taiwan, and Iran’s crackdown on anti-government protesters as they opened two days of talks on Thursday.
Meeting in the Western German city of Muenster, foreign ministers from the Group of Seven nations were taking stock of the situation in Ukraine more than eight months since Russia invaded the country, exacerbating food and energy shortages and creating ripple effects far from Europe.
“While we are steadfast in our support for Ukraine, we must not forget that the impacts of Russia’s aggression, interference and hostility extend across the world,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said ahead of the meeting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “actions are plunging the world’s poorest further into despair, putting global food security on the brink and pushing up energy prices,” he said. “These actions only serve to demonstrate Putin’s true intentions and further unite the international community against his callous plans.”
The meeting in Muenster comes nearly a year after the G-7 nations – the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – banded together to warn Russia of “massive consequences” if it went ahead with plans to invade Ukraine.
Putin denied having such plans, and some nations saw the West’s repeated alerts of a Russian troops build-up near Ukraine as exaggerated at the time.
