On the eve of the G7's foreign ministers' meeting in Tokyo and a video dialogue with Ukraine's foreign ministers, Japan, as the host of the meeting and the rotating chair of the G7 this year, stated that the G7's support for Ukraine in resisting Russian invasion will not be weakened by the escalation of the Israeli-Kazakhstan conflict in the Middle East.
The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven countries held a meeting in Tokyo from Tuesday (November 7th) to Wednesday, discussing topics including the Russia Ukraine war and the escalating Israeli-Kazakhstan conflict.
Our commitment to continuing to impose severe sanctions on Russia and strongly support Ukraine has not wavered, even if the situation in the Middle East escalates, there will be no change, "Japan's new Foreign Minister, Yoko Uekawa, said at a press conference in Tokyo.
Later Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also stressed that the "firm support" of the Group of Seven for Ukraine will be an important topic of the Foreign Ministers' Meeting when meeting with Yoko Ukawa. However, he also emphasized that everyone should also sit together at this important moment to discuss the Israeli Kazakh war.
The member countries of the Group of Seven include the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States.
The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven attending the meeting are scheduled to hold a video conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday.
Reuters reported that a senior US official stated after the September meeting of the G7 foreign ministers that the G7 recognizes Russia's readiness to engage in a protracted war in Ukraine and therefore needs to continue providing military and economic assistance to Kiev accordingly.
Since Russia launched a blatant war of aggression against Ukraine in February last year, the G7 countries have been strongly promoting and supporting the implementation of strict sanctions against Moscow. In May this year, when the Group of Seven countries held a summit in Hiroshima, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also invited to visit Hiroshima and hold face-to-face meetings with the leaders of the Group of Seven countries.
Reuters said that as the latest step in imposing economic sanctions on Russia, the Group of Seven is considering a proposal to impose an embargo on Russian diamonds.
Japan also stated on Tuesday that the United States' decision to impose sanctions on Russia's Arctic 2 LNG project will cause Japan to suffer some unavoidable losses, as the two Japanese companies jointly hold 10% of the project.
The report states that compared to the increasingly fierce Israeli-Kazakh war, which has caused thousands of deaths, the G7 is more likely to form consensus or express its position on the Ukrainian issue. Since the outbreak of the Israeli-Kazakhstan conflict, the Group of Seven has only issued a brief joint statement on this conflict. However, some member states have made separate statements on this matter.
At a meeting held in Tokyo, the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven planned to express the necessity of a temporary ceasefire in the Israeli-Kazakhstan war, in order to allow humanitarian aid supplies to enter Gaza. Due to the massive and sudden terrorist attack launched by Hamas on Israel from Gaza on October 7th, which resulted in the deaths of 1400 Israelis and the kidnapping of more than 240 Israelis as hostages, Israel has continued to carry out large-scale air strikes on Gaza over the past month, and Israeli ground forces have also entered Gaza to engage in street and tunnel warfare with Hamas militants.
Officials from the health department in Gaza controlled by Hamas say that Israel's air strikes and attacks on Gaza have so far resulted in more than 10000 deaths, with a large majority of them being women and children.
Also on Tuesday, Yoko Uesugawa and Japanese Defense Minister Nimitsu Kihara held a joint meeting with the British Foreign and Defense Ministers. The joint statement issued by both sides after the meeting reiterated that the two country solution is the only feasible option for achieving a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
The joint statement of the two countries also condemned Iran's destabilizing actions in the Middle East, and called on Tehran to play a more constructive role in the Middle East to help reduce regional tensions.
Reuters quoted officials and analysts as saying that Japan has adopted a more cautious attitude on the Israeli-Kazakhstan conflict, and its stance is different from the United States' pro Israel policy.
However, after meeting with Antony Blinken, Yoko Ukawa said that Japan and the United States are "firmly united" on the Middle East issue.