KARUIZAWA: On Tuesday, the foreign ministers of the G7 nations issued a warning that those who support Russia in Ukraine will face “severe costs.”
After two days of discussions in the picturesque Japanese mountain resort town of Karuizawa, the top diplomats from major economies promised to take tough action against anyone who aided Russia in acquiring weapons but did not announce any fresh penalties against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
The foreign ministers also warned Beijing over its “militarization activities” in the South China Sea and underlined their stance on Taiwan remained the same despite recent contentious remarks made by the president of France.
The ministers discussed a wide range of global policy issues, even though the Ukraine and regional issues predominated the discussions, including a request that North Korea “refrain” from additional nuclear testing or ballistic missile launches.
They gathered while combat between the army and paramilitaries in Sudan raged on, necessitating the last-minute addition of text requiring both sides to “end hostilities immediately without preconditions.”
Additionally, there was repeated condemnation of the Taliban government in Afghanistan’s growing restrictions on women and other minorities, which the ministers referred to as “systematic abuses”.
They urged the “immediate reversal” of “unacceptable decisions,” such as the prohibition on women working for NGOs and the UN in the nation.
However, it was evident that the conflict in Ukraine and China’s rising military and economic influence were the two issues discussed most at the huddle.
The diplomats from Japan, Britain, the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, France, and the European Union vowed to keep “intensifying” sanctions on Russia and step-up efforts to confront those who supply Moscow armaments or other forms of support, threatening “severe costs” if they did not.
In addition, they condemned Russia’s “irresponsible nuclear rhetoric” and denounced Moscow’s threat to use nuclear weapons in Belarus as “unacceptable”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters, “We stand with Ukraine as it prepares to undertake a counteroffensive to take back its territories.
