LUCCA, Italy (AP)— Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations are sitting down in Italy for their first roundtable session at a meeting dominated by Syria’s civil war and Russia’s role in it.
The G-7 foreign ministers discussed their response to last week’s chemical attack in Syria, which the West blames on Assad’s forces—and by extension its Russian backers.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says Group of Seven foreign ministers are considering imposing new sanctions on Russian individuals over Moscow’s support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Johnson says ministers meeting in Lucca, Italy on Monday and Tuesday “will be discussing the possibility of further sanctions, certainly, on some of the Syrian military figures and indeed on some of the Russian military figures.”
Britain has been among those calling most strongly for a tough new approach to Russia.
Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano has discussed the situation in Syria in a telephone phone call with his Iranian counterpart.
Italy’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif repeated Tehran’s condemnation of the “unacceptable use of chemical weapons” in a Syrian town last week.
The statement says Alfano urged Iran to use its influence with the Syrian regime “to avoid new attacks, completely eliminate chemical weapons and assure a cease-fire.”
According to Italy’s ministry, the two men agreed to continue their conversation with “a common goal of preventing an escalation of violence” and relaunching a political process for stabilizing Syria.
Diplomats from the Mideast, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, are scheduled to discuss Syria on the sidelines of the G-7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy on Tuesday.
Some protesters battle police
A small group of protesters marred the otherwise peaceful demonstrations outside the G-7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Lucca, Italy on Monday, April 10, by scuffling with police.
Clashes erupted as marchers chanting “Police go away” were stopped at the Tuscan city’s medieval walls by a line of police wielding riot shields.
The clashes involved a small group among several hundred peaceful protesters.
The two-day G-7 meeting of top diplomats from Italy, the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and Japan is taking place under tight security in the historic city center.
