PARIS — Foreign ministers of the G7 group meet in Paris from Monday for two days of talks expected to see European powers press the United States to seek a fair settlement for Ukraine in the war against Russia and deter Washington from further military action against Iran.
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powers → meet → Iran
Ministers from the leading industrialized nations of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S. will be gathering with preoccupations strikingly similar to those of the last such meeting in March.
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Ministers → lead → March
Russia’s war against Ukraine following the February 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbour is grinding toward its fifth anniversary.
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war → follow → anniversary
And Washington is still not ruling out new attacks against Iran even after President Donald Trump’s Republicans lost control of Congress in the midterms.
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Republicans → rule → midterms
All eyes will be on U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is due to attend both days unlike the March meeting where he only came for one.
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he → attend → one
This G7 ministerial meeting, one of the final acts of the French G7 presidency that saw President Emmanuel Macron host Donald Trump for the leaders’ summit this summer in the lakeside resort of Evian, had long been scheduled to be held in the southern port city of Marseille.
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Macron → see → Marseille
But at the last minute, the event was moved to Paris with only scheduling reasons given for the change.
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reasons → move → change
The visit by Rubio — seen by U.S. media as a potential candidate to succeed Trump — will be his first abroad since the midterms.
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visit → see → midterms
Washington will also in 2027 take over the G7 presidency from France.
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Washington → take → France
‘Europeans will be represented’
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Europeans → represent → ?
The meeting coincides with U.S.-mediated talks with Moscow and Kyiv in Abu Dhabi scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday on ending the Ukraine war and with Europe concerned Kyiv must not be forced to accept disadvantageous conditions.
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Kyiv → coincide → conditions
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told RTL radio that on this occasion “Europeans will be represented and France will be in Abu Dhabi to participate in these talks.”
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France → tell → talks
Trump stoked fears of a U.S. pivot toward the Kremlin by predicting a “very big” deal with Russia involving not only the Ukraine war, but “all of Europe.”
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Trump → stoke → Europe
Jared Kushner, the president’s envoy and son-in-law, said the U.S. was working on “a broader European security architecture that can help establish the conditions for lasting peace,” a concept met with skepticism in the past by Europe.
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that → say → Europe
On Iran, Trump has not ruled out new strikes, including at so-called Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected nuclear site which Tehran denies is such a facility.
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Tehran → rule → Mountain
Europeans, however, are eager to see a resolution and shipping traffic return to normal in the Strait of Hormuz energy transit hub.
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traffic → see → hub
“We’re dealing with them now,” Trump said of the Iranians on Friday.
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Trump → deal → Friday
“They want to make a deal very badly.”
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They → want → deal
The sidelines of the meeting will also see the French Finance Ministry hosting on Monday a donor conference to raise funds to repair the dome protecting the nuclear reactor that exploded in Ukraine’s Chernobyl in 1986 after it was damaged in a Russian strike last year.
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it → see → strike
About 500 million euros are required but only half had been raised with a target date of spring 2027 to muster the rest of the funds, the French ministry told AFP.
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ministry → require → AFP
Even though the meeting was moved to Paris, Marseille will still host the launch of a network of 14 global ports uniting to combat drug trafficking, which has become a major scourge in the southern city, Barrot said.
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Barrot → move → city
As he addressed reporters while preparing to leave for France, Rubio declined to comment directly on Trump’s and the Republicans’ crushing loss in the U.S. midterm elections.
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Rubio → address → elections
“It is not uncommon to have a division of power in this country,” Rubio told reporters, alluding to the fact that Trump will now see both houses controlled by the Democrats.
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houses → have → Democrats
Asked about widespread protests in France, Rubio added that he was not worried and trusted U.S. counterparts on the ground who advised him it is safe to attend the G7 meeting.
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it → ask → meeting
The Aporia
