G7 foreign ministers meet on Capri amid Israel-Iran tensions

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba have both stressed the need for the US Congress to pass a new military aid package for Kyiv as it fights against a Russian invasion.

 "At this moment, it is urgent that all of the friends and supporters of Ukraine maximize their efforts to provide ... Ukraine with what it needs to continue to effectively defend itself against the Russian aggression," Blinken said, speaking on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting on the Mediterranean island of Capri.

Blinken said it was in the US' own interests to ensure Ukraine could ward off the Russian assault. 

"If (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is allowed to proceed with impunity, we know he won't stop at Ukraine," Blinken said. 

Kuleba said the US aid package, which has long been blocked by Republicans in Congress, "will literally, without exaggeration, help save Ukrainians from Russian missile slaughter." 

Citing the Russian missile strike on Ukraine's historic city of Chernihiv on Wednesday, which killed at least 18 people, Kuleba said the tragedy was "that these kind of attacks happen almost every day in Ukraine." 

The G7 meeting is due to discuss support for Ukraine at a session later on Thursday.

The US House of Representatives is expected to vote on Saturday on new military aid, including some $61 billion (€57 billion) in support for Ukraine.
      

Iran's weekend attack on Israel must be met with some sort of response from the G7, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Thursday.

She said possible measures would be discussed with her counterparts at the Capri meeting.

"We are also discussing further measures here at the G7, because, of course, there must be a response to this unprecedented incident," Baerbock said.

She warned, however, that "there must be no further escalation in the region; that would be fatal for its people."

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called on global partners to provide more air-defense equipment to Ukraine, saying it was urgently necessary "to protect Ukraine and to protect our own security."

Speaking ahead of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting, she recalled that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who will also take part in the Capri gathering, had said, "We need air defense now" at a NATO meeting two weeks ago.

She said it was good that NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had called a special meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council on Friday "so that we can reinforce this protection jointly as Europeans."

Baerbock also welcomed signs from the US that it would continue its support for Ukraine after Republicans blocked an aid package.

"In these turbulent times, it is a hopeful sign that there are now signals from the Republicans in the US that support for Ukraine can be continued intensively," Baerbock said.

The meeting of G7 foreign ministers will look at possible further sanctions on Iran following Tehran's attack on Israel at the weekend.

The meeting is also to discuss better air defense support for Ukraine as it battles a Russian invasion.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba are expected to attend the meeting on Thursday afternoon. 

More than 1,300 police officers and other security forces are being deployed on the island during the meeting.

The G7 group of advanced democratic economies is made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the European Union.

tj/wd (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)