Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven are meeting on the Italian resort island of Capri, with calls for new sanctions on Iran over its attack on Israel and more help to Ukraine fighting Russia’s war on the agenda.
Under Italy’s rotating leadership, G7 leaders are expected to make a joint call for Israel to exercise restraint after Iran’s unprecedented weekend attack involving hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles fired against the Jewish State.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he had spoken with his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, on Tuesday and urged Israel not only to reduce any reaction to Iran’s attack but to avoid a planned offensive on the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza.
“I reiterated this message and I believe that on the occasion of the meeting of the G7 foreign ministers in Capri, tomorrow and Friday morning, a similar message will be sent,” Tajani told the state-run RAI.
With Israel’s war in Gaza in its sixth month, Tehran’s attack added a new element of urgency to the three-day meeting of foreign ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for new sanctions against Tehran and was making a last-minute visit to Israel before arriving in Capri later Wednesday.
“We will discuss how further escalation with more and more violence can be prevented,” he said. “Because what matters now is stopping Iran without encouraging further escalation.”
Germany, a staunch ally of Israel, has been among the chorus of European and American leaders urging Israel to reduce tensions and not retaliate for Tehran’s attack, which was repelled largely thanks to help from the United States and his allies.
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British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he would push for “coordinated sanctions against Iran” at the meeting. He maintained that Tehran was orchestrating “much of the malign activity in this region” from Hamas in Gaza, to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are behind attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
“The G-7 must give them a clear and unambiguous message and I hope that happens,” Cameron told media during a visit to Israel.
Russia’s two-year war in Ukraine is also high on the agenda, with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg invited to the Capri meeting on Thursday as guests . Kuleba is expected to reiterate his country’s need for essential military support, including artillery, ammunition and air defense systems to bolster his country’s capabilities as Russia advances on the front line.
The United States and several European countries are discussing proposals to use profits generated by billions of euros of frozen Russian assets to help provide weapons and other funds to Ukraine, proposals that have gained traction as U.S. efforts to obtain New gun funding has stalled in Congress.
At the European Union level, EU leaders will discuss the proposal at a summit on Wednesday in Brussels. Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is expected to be in Capri.
The 27-nation EU holds about 200 billion euros ($217 billion) in Russian central bank assets, most of it frozen in Belgium, in retaliation for Moscow’s war against Ukraine. The bloc estimates that interest on that money could provide around 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) each year.
The Biden administration is also studying the possibility of leveraging Russian assets. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday that she will meet separately with G7 finance ministers to discuss, among other things, Russian sovereign assets.
“We are looking at a number of possibilities ranging from seizing the assets to using them as collateral,” he told reporters in Washington.
He said Ukraine needs more help and fears Russia is beginning to see signs that the United States and its allies are “tired and finding it harder to find ways to support Ukraine.”
“That makes us focus on finding a way to unlock economic value and a resource flow from Russian sovereign assets” that have been tied up, he said.
The European Central Bank has warned in the past against confiscating Russian assets as this could undermine confidence in the euro and EU markets. But Borrell has said that under the EU plan, no assets would be taken, just the windfall they make.
On the Middle East front, tensions have risen since the start of the latest war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, when Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two Iranian-backed militant groups, carried out a devastating cross-border attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped another 250 people. Israel responded with an offensive in Gaza that caused widespread devastation and killed more than 33,800 people, according to local health officials.
World leaders have urged Israel not to retaliate after Iran launched a revenge mission that brought the Middle East closer to a regional war. The attack occurred less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria killed two Iranian generals at an Iranian consular building.
Fatima Hussein in Washington and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
