G7+7 holds an expanded meeting in Canada to seek a common response to Russia on the Ukraine issue
The G7 foreign ministers will hold a meeting in Canada on Tuesday, with the Ukraine issue being the top agenda item. In the context of stalled negotiations, countries hope to send a unified message against Russia's firm stance. Ottawa hopes this summit will achieve a high level of multilateralism.
The G7 members - Germany, the UK, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the US foreign ministers - will hold their second meeting of the year today in Niagara, at the Canada-US border.
This meeting also invited representatives from South Africa, Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.
This is the second time diplomats have gathered after President Trump imposed sanctions on two Russian oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in October and condemned President Putin for refusing to end the conflict.
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand told AFP on Monday: "For Canada, promoting multilateral dialogue is crucial, especially in such a turbulent and complex environment."
The minister said she hopes to issue a final joint statement, but did not commit to specific progress on the Ukraine issue.
Over the past few weeks, Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been attacked multiple times by Russia.
In diplomatic terms, negotiations to end the war of Russian aggression against Ukraine have hit a deadlock.
Therefore, during this G7 meeting, the issue of using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine's needs in the coming years will be discussed again.
In June, the G7 summit held in Canada invited Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. However, that summit only reached minimal consensus on the Ukraine issue and failed to reach agreement on a firm stance towards Russia.
Sources: rfi
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1848510217030748/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.