NEW YORK – The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) stressed Wednesday the need to maintain the flow of urgent humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, while reaffirming support for Ukraine and efforts to resolve the Iranian and North Korean nuclear files.
In a joint statement, they said “We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union, met on the margins of High-Level Week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.”
“We expressed concerns around Russia’s most recent airspace violations in Estonia, Poland and Romania, which are unacceptable and risk undermining international security,” read the statement.
It added “We underscored our ongoing commitment to work together to achieve a durable peace and a strong, independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine, by continuing to coordinate with the United States to provide Ukraine with robust and credible security guarantees.”
“We discussed imposing further economic costs on Russia, including taking action against third country enablers. We welcome ongoing discussions between G7 Finance Ministers on further leveraging Russian Sovereign Assets to support Ukraine,” the statement stated.
“We welcomed the US and Panama proposal to establish a UN Support Office for Haiti and transition the Multinational Security Support Mission into a new force, with a mandate to dismantle gangs, secure critical infrastructure, and re-establish security in Haiti together with the Haitian authorities,” it added.
“We stressed the urgency of alleviating the immense suffering of civilians in Gaza through a flood of humanitarian aid and securing the release of all hostages, and we reiterated our call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas,” according to the statement.
“We affirmed our readiness to engage with Arab partners on their proposals to chart a way forward on reconstruction in Gaza and build a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace,” the statement said.
It added “We called on Iran to fully implement its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, resume full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and engage in direct talks with the United States towards a robust, durable and comprehensive nuclear agreement that ensures Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon. We commended the E3’s decision to trigger the “snapback” mechanism.”
It affirmed the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law, stating “We reiterated our strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion, including in the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and across the Taiwan Strait. We reaffirmed our commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea and the immediate resolution of the abductions issue.”
As the United Nations marks its 80th anniversary, the ministers said they recognized the fundamental need for the reform of the United Nations and expressed willingness to participate in efforts to ensure that it is fit for purpose.
