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In Liverpool, United Kingdom, the foreign ministers of the seven economic powers meet to discuss, among other issues, the tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the Nuclear Agreement with Iran and the presence of China in the Indo-Pacific.
The G-7 Foreign Ministers’ Summit began in Liverpool, UK, with various topics on the table.
The meeting comes as Russia concentrates troops on the border with Ukraine, when there are concerns about China’s military and economic ambitions and the possibility that talks for Iran to return to the nuclear pact will fail.
In this first meeting, the countries of the Group of Seven seek to dissuade Russia from invading Ukraine, warning it of the dire consequences of any incursion and urging Moscow to return to the table for talks.
A senior US State Department official described the day’s talks as “intense” and said there was still a diplomatic path to reduce tensions with Russia.
The official said that if Russia decides “not to go down that path, there will be massive consequences and severe costs in response,” indicating that “the G7 is absolutely united on that,” adding that “the types of costs that we are talking about are designed to be implemented very, very quickly. “
Concern about a possible offensive against Ukraine
Ukraine, at the center of the crisis, accuses Russia of mustering tens of thousands of troops in preparation for a possible large-scale military offensive.
The United States and its NATO allies are concerned that the movement of troops and weapons from Russia to the border region could be the prelude to an invasion.
Washington will send Undersecretary Karen Donfried to Ukraine and Russia on December 13-15. There he will meet with senior government officials. For its part, Russia denies having planned any attacks and accuses Ukraine and the United States of destabilizing behavior. You have also said that you need security guarantees for your own protection.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who takes office after the arrival of Olaf Scholz as German Chancellor, spoke to journalists and specified that it is necessary “to take all the necessary measures to return to dialogue.”
The meeting’s host, British Foreign Minister Liz Truss, told reporters that the G-7 meeting would be “a show of unity between the major like-minded economies”, and that they will be “absolutely strong” in the stance against aggression against Ukraine.
Iran, another of the big issues at the G-7 meeting
The summit of top diplomats from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan comes as negotiators on the Nuclear Agreement with Iran are meeting in Vienna to try to reactivate the pact.
Truss warned this week that the Vienna talks are “the last chance for Iran to adhere” to the agreement, aimed at curbing the Iranian nuclear program, in exchange for the withdrawal of economic sanctions on the Persian country.
The German Foreign Minister said that “time is running out” and that in recent days there has been “no progress”. Baerbock said Iran had resumed talks with a position that delayed negotiations for six months. The current round of talks in Vienna follows a five-month hiatus after the election of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi.
According to the official IRNA news agency, Raisi said Tehran was serious in its nuclear talks in Vienna.
The indirect talks between the United States and Iran are led by diplomats from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia and China, as Tehran refuses direct contact with Washington.
The previous agreement fell apart when then-President Donald Trump made the decision to withdraw in 2018, and Iran began to increase its enrichment of uranium, an essential material for creating atomic bombs.
Diplomats also have on the agenda to discuss China’s strong presence in the Indo-Pacific, lagged efforts to vaccinate the world against Covid-19, climate change, and tensions in the Western Balkans, Afghanistan and North Korea.
With Reuters and AP
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