G7 leaders will discuss ‘rising threats’ from China and Russia

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Foreign ministers from all of the G7 nations are meeting in London today for their first face-to-face talks in more than two years.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is hosting his counterparts and he said the summit will provide the opportunity to address ‘shared challenges and rising threats’.    

The ministers are due to discuss the need for urgent joined-up action to address a number of major global issues. 

China, Myanmar, Libya, Syria and Russia are all on the formal agenda for the meeting of the G7 group.

Mr Raab set the stage for the summit last night with a press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as the pair launched a mutual charm offensive in an apparent attempt to repair the Special Relationship. 

Mr Raab was full of warm words for the new US administration as he said President Joe Biden had already taken a ‘huge number of bold and very welcome steps’ on the world stage. 

Meanwhile, Mr Blinken said the Special Relationship is ‘enduring’, ‘effective’ and ‘dynamic’ as well as being ‘close to the hearts of the American people’ after it was strained during Donald Trump’s time in the White House.     

The G7 group is made up of the world’s seven largest advanced economies – the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

The meeting of foreign ministers at Lancaster House in the capital comes ahead of a leaders’ summit scheduled to take place in Cornwall next month.

That summit will be Mr Biden’s first overseas visit since he became US President. 

Representatives from a number of other nations are also attending today’s meeting. 

Mr Raab said in a statement issued overnight: ‘The UK’s presidency of the G7 is an opportunity to bring together open, democratic societies and demonstrate unity at a time when it is much needed to tackle shared challenges and rising threats.

‘The addition of our friends from Australia, India, the Republic of Korea and South Africa, as well as the chair of Asean reflects the growing significance of the Indo Pacific region for the G7.’

Mr Raab said the increased guest list was proof of ‘the increasing demand and need for agile clusters of like-minded countries that share the same values and want to protect the multilateral system’.

Britain, which left the EU last year, is looking to Asia-Pacific countries for new trade and investment opportunities, but also as a reflection of the region’s growing strategic importance.

It wants wider, stronger global commitments on tackling climate change, as it prepares to host the UN climate change summit, COP26, in November.

Ministers are meeting under strict coronavirus protocols, with stripped-back delegations and social distancing, including face-masks and perspex screens between speakers.

Those attending will also discuss violence in Ethiopia, Iran and North Korea, Somalia, the Sahel and western Balkans, as part of what the UK Government said were ‘pressing geopolitical issues that threaten to undermine democracy, freedoms and human rights’. 

Mr Blinken last night hammered home the need for a common stance on key issues, as he reaffirmed US commitment to the ‘international rules-based order’ to tackle issues from climate change to post-pandemic recovery.

He said: ‘Most of the challenges that we face… not a single one of those challenges can be effectively met by any one country acting alone – even the United States, even the United Kingdom.

‘There is I think a stronger imperative than at any time since I’ve been involved in these issues to find ways for countries to cooperate, to coordinate, to collaborate.’ 

Britain and the US have been increasingly aligned in foreign policy towards geopolitical threats, particularly from Russia and China.

Mr Blinken is due to travel to Ukraine tomorrow where there is Western concern about Russia’s build-up of forces on the border, Moscow’s treatment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and Belarus. 

As the two countries forge a fresh relationship following the departure of Mr Trump from the White House, Mr Blinken said the US has ‘no closer ally, no closer partner’ than the UK. 

Speaking at the press conference last night, he said: ‘It is also the 75th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s famous speech at Westminster College in Missouri where he described the Special Relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States and how vital it is for our two countries and many others around the world.

‘Three quarters of a century later, that Special Relationship is enduring, it is effective, it is dynamic and it is close to the hearts of the American people.’

He added: ‘The United States has no closer ally, no closer partner, than the United Kingdom and I am very glad for the chance to say that again here today.’

The Special Relationship was put under pressure during Mr Trump’s presidency due to disagreements on a variety of issues like Nato military spending and climate change.    

Mr Raab lavished praise on Mr Biden and the new US administration as he signalled a resetting of relations.

‘I think it is fair to say the Biden administration is barely 100 days old but has already taken a huge number of bold and very welcome steps on issues like climate change, global health and human rights, and that has really created momentum in efforts to tackle these pressing global issues,’ the Foreign Secretary said.