Politics

G7 foreign ministers to meet in Munich in support of Ukraine

Tokyo, Feb 16 (EFE).- The foreign ministers of G7 member countries are set to meet on Saturday in Munich for its annual security conference, aiming to reaffirm their support to Ukraine, the group’s current chair Japan said on Thursday.

This is the first meeting of the G7 top diplomats since Japan assumed the group’s rotational presidency in January, and comes days ahead of the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will travel to Germany on Friday and speak a day later at a panel discussion on security in the Indo-Pacific as part of the Munich Security Conference. On the same day, he will preside over the meeting with his G7 counterparts.

The meeting’s main objective would be to to reiterate a message of firm support by the G7 for Ukraine in the context of Russian aggression and the group’s willingness to keep applying pressure against Moscow in collaboration with the international community, Japanese foreign ministry sources said on Thursday.

They did not rule out fresh sanctions against Russia being announced during the meeting, set to be attended by the foreign ministers of Japan, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Canada, apart from the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell.

Earlier this month, Japanese media also reported that Tokyo was planning to hold a meeting of G7 leaders on Feb. 24 via videoconferencing, although this has not yet been confirmed officially.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the teleconference along with his G7 counterparts, according to the reports.

In late May, Japan will host the annual summit of G7 leaders in Hiroshima, where the host expects to issue a message of unity against the Russian aggression in Ukraine, along with a call for denuclearization.

The virtual meet on Feb. 24 could be focused along the same lines: reaffirming the group’s support to Kyiv and condemning Moscow, apart from seeking additional ways of offering financial help to Ukraine. EFE

ahg/ia

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