The Iran war is set to dominate a meeting of foreign affairs ministers from the Group of Seven countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US – scheduled to open on Thursday near Paris.
A world in crisis will also be addressed through discussion on Ukraine. In a bid to widen discussions, France, which holds the rotating G7 presidency, has invited foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Brazil, and India to attend the two-day summit, which will be held at the Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey, a 12th-century Cistercian monastery converted into a five-star hotel.
“This meeting of ministers aims to contribute to the resolution of major international crises – notably in Iran, the Middle East and Ukraine,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. The EU's foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas is also set to attend the summit.
Organisers also want the meeting to focus on “priority themes such as the reform of global governance, post-conflict reconstruction issues and the fight against transversal threats”. Sessions on these three subjects will take place on Thursday in the presence of the non-G7 ministers.
The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will land in France on Thursday night and miss the first day of the meeting because of a prior commitment at the White House, a French diplomat said. The situation in Iran is scheduled to be discussed over lunch on Friday in a G7-only format.
Strait of Hormuz
“We will focus on current issues such as the reopening of maritime and commercial routes, the protection of civil infrastructure and the safety of our citizens,” the French diplomat said, referring to global concerns caused by Iran's de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz and soaring oil prices.
“Everything will depend somewhat on the situation, as announcements or communications, mostly from the United States, follow each other in quick succession,” they added.
The meeting on Iran will be preceded by a meeting on Ukraine with that country's Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, and the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Odile Renaud-Basso.
The state department said in a statement on Tuesday that Mr Rubio's talks with his counterparts would focus on “the Russia-Ukraine war, the situation in the Middle East and threats across the world to peace and stability”.
Ministers expect to be debriefed by Mr Rubio to better understand the US position on Iran, which has given rise to cautious hopes for a ceasefire this week. The US President Donald Trump has said his administration has been negotiating with Iran to end the war. It is not known how Mr Trump is engaging with Iranian counterparts or who is on the other end of the talks.
Iran has downplayed the reports, suggesting Mr Trump is “negotiating with himself”. Meanwhile, an ultimatum issued by Mr Trump to Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its energy infrastructure is set to expire on Friday.
At the G7 meeting, talks on reconstruction are expected to focus on raising funds to repair the protective shield covering the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine, which was damaged in a Russian drone strike last year. They will also touch on regional integration in the Middle East, including the India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).
This discussion “may seem out of place in a context of multiple wars – Gaza, Lebanon and Iran”, the French diplomat admitted, “but it seems important to imagine starting to cast stones, which could be a mechanism for regional integration”, they added.
G7 ministers are also expected to discuss counter-terrorism and fighting drug trafficking, including that of Captagon in Syria. France is working on organising a regional conference on the topic with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the G7, according to the French diplomat. “Bashar Al Assad's fall doesn't mean the issue is completely resolved,” they said.
