NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario: Top diplomats from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies publicly showed their consensus on Ukraine and Sudan on Wednesday, but stayed away from contentious issues like the US military strikes on boats in the Caribbean and trade.
The foreign ministers of the G7 met with Ukraine’s foreign minister on Wednesday as Kyiv tries to fend off Russian aerial attacks that have brought rolling blackouts across the country. Andriy Sybiha said Ukraine needs the support of its partners to survive what will be a “very difficult, very tough winter.”
“We have to move forward to pressure Russia, to raise the price for the aggression, for Russia, for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, to end this war,” Sybiha said.
The G7 ministers said in a joint statement at the conclusion of the two-day gathering that they are increasing the economic costs to Russia and exploring measures against those who finance Russia’s war efforts.
Canada announced more sanctions against Russia, including targeting those involved in the development and deployment of drones, and Britain, a day earlier, pledged money for Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made no immediate announcements about new US initiatives but said on social media that the meeting delved into ways “to strengthen Ukraine’s defense and find an end to this bloody conflict.”
“We are doing whatever is necessary to support Ukraine,” Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said.
The meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake, near the US border, followed US President Donald Trump’s decision to end trade talks with Canada after the Ontario provincial government ran an anti-tariff advertisement in the US, which upset him. That followed a spring of acrimony, since abated, over the president’s insistence that Canada should become the 51st US state.
Anand declined to talk about the trade dispute.
“I am here to talk about the work that the G7 ministers are doing,” she said. “And that is exactly what I think I should be discussing.”
Anand met with Rubio, but said she did not bring up trade talks, noting that a different minister leads the trade issue.
US military strikes also ‘didn’t come up’
The Trump administration says the US military has killed at least 75 people in 19 known strikes against what it says are drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. The administration has been under pressure from Congress to provide more information about who is being targeted and the legal justification for the strikes.
Rubio told reporters that questions about the military campaign and intelligence sharing in support of the operations were not raised with him at all by any of his G7 or other counterparts on Wednesday.
“It didn’t come up once,” Rubio said. He also denied a report that Britain has stopped sharing intelligence.
“Again, nothing has changed or happened that is impeded in any way our ability to do what we’re doing. Nor are we asking anyone to help us with what we’re doing — in any realm. And that includes military,” Rubio said.
The G7 comprises Canada, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Anand also invited the foreign ministers of Australia, Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, South Korea, South Africa and Ukraine to the meeting, which began Tuesday.
G7 diplomats publicly show support for Ukraine but avoid contentious issues like trade
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G7 diplomats publicly show support for Ukraine but avoid contentious issues like trade
- Ministers say they are economic costs to Russia and exploring measures against those who finance Russia’s war efforts on Ukraine
- Canada announced more sanctions against Russia, and Britain has pledged money for Ukraine’s energy infrastructure
Philippines says China fired flares toward its patrol plane in the disputed South China Sea
- “The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources aircraft recorded video footage of three flares fired from the reef toward the aircraft during its lawful overflight,” said the Philippine coast guard
- The Philippine patrol plane spotted a Chinese hospital ship, two Chinese coast guard ships and 29 suspected militia ships anchored in the waters off Subi
MANILA: Chinese forces fired three flares from an island toward a Philippine plane undertaking a routine patrol Saturday in the disputed South China Sea, but the incident did not cause any problem and the aircraft proceeded with its surveillance mission, the Philippine coast guard said.
It was not immediately clear how far the flares that Filipino officials said were fired from the Chinese-occupied Subi Reef were from the Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft of the Philippine fisheries bureau.
Chinese officials did not immediately comment on the incident, Beijing has claimed virtually the entire South China Sea, a key global trade route, and has vowed to staunchly defend its sovereignty. Chinese forces has fired flares from its occupied islands and from its aircraft as a warning for foreign planes to move away from what it calls its airspace in the disputed waters.
“The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources aircraft recorded video footage of three flares fired from the reef toward the aircraft during its lawful overflight,” said the Philippine coast guard, which carried out Saturday’s surveillance flight with the fisheries agency.
“These flights aim to monitor the marine environment, assess the status of fisheries resources and ensure the safety and welfare of Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea,” the coast guard said, using the Philippine name for the stretch of the South China Sea that Manila claims.
The Philippine patrol plane spotted a Chinese hospital ship, two Chinese coast guard ships and 29 suspected militia ships anchored in the waters off Subi, the Philippine coast guard said.
Subi is one of seven disputed and mostly submerged reefs which China turned more than a decade ago into what are now island bases in the Spratlys, the most hotly disputed region of the South China Sea. The artificial islands are protected by a missile system and three of them have military-grade runways, according to US and Philippine security officials.
Aside from Subi, the Philippine patrol plane flew near six other disputed islands, reefs and atolls, including Sabina, an uninhabited disputed shoal, where it monitored a Chinese navy ship. “This vessel repeatedly issued radio challenges against the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources aircraft while it was flying well within Philippine sovereign rights,” the Philippine coast guard said.
“All safe and mission accomplished,” Jay Tarriela of the Philippine coast guard said of Saturday’s surveillance flight.
The United States has no territorial claims in the sea passage but has patrolled the waters for decades and repeatedly warned it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also been involved in the long-seething disputes in the resource-rich waters.
