LUEBECK, Germany
Foreign ministers of the G7 nations gathered in the northwestern German city of Luebeck on Tuesday to discuss international conflicts and new global threats.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters ahead of a dinner with his counterparts that the particular focus of their two-day meetings would be conflicts in the Middle East and Africa; Iran nuclear deal and the cease-fire in eastern Ukraine.
Steinmeier said that intense and long-term efforts were needed to address these challenges.
"The conflicts that we daily follow from reports, from Libya, Yemen, Boko Haram, Daesh, Syria to Ukraine and Russia… none of these would probably be solved in the next three, six or nine weeks’ time,” he said.
“I think we have to be realistic. What we face in these days, the extraordinary crisis situation, this type of crisis management would probably continue to be the case for the coming months and years,” he added.
He praised progress made in efforts to de-escalate tensions in eastern Ukraine and negotiations that enabled a framework deal with Iran on its controversial nuclear program.
“The interim result is that we agreed on key points as to what a possible final agreement with Iran might look like. So, this is a good basis to achieve results and come up a final agreement by June 30,” Steinmeier said.
He dismissed criticism of the Israeli government and some influential U.S. politicians on the nuclear deal with Iran.
“I also said this to some U.S. senators, they shouldn't try to give us obstacles to our future negotiations,” he said.
He also criticized Russia’s decision to lift the ban on the transfer of Russian-made S-300 defense missile systems to Iran, before a final agreement with Tehran.
“It is also too early to talk about rewards,” he said.
G7 foreign ministers are scheduled to discuss the Iran nuclear deal in their working session Wednesday.
Germany, the G7’s term president, announced that it would present two new initiatives as part of the meeting: “Maritime Security” and “Beyond Ebola: A G7 Agenda to help prevent future crises and enhance security in Africa.”
Germany took over the presidency of the G7 group in June last year. G7 brings together world’s most advanced economies of U.S., Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy.
Russia was excluded from the group last year in response to its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.
