G7 foreign ministers gathered in
Capri on Wednesday for three days of encounters chaired by
Italian Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, with
efforts to avert an escalation of the conflict in the Middle
East among the priorities.
"The Italian-led G7 has the job of working for peace in an
international scenario characterized by very strong tension,"
said Tajani.
"The government is engaged in an all-round effort to achieve
this objective and we are certain that the meeting in Capri will
make an important contribution".
Tajani has called for restraint by Israel after last weekend's
attack on it by Iran.
"Israel has achieved a clear success, practically completely
neutralizing the effects of the unacceptable Iranian attack,"
Tajani said in an interview with daily newspaper La Stampa after
talking to his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz.
"So I said I hoped that they would stop here, consolidating this
political and military success".
He said there had been "some positive signs" that Israel might
show restraint, stressing that the Israelis "are not insensitive
to the G7's requests.
"The first results can be seen - the response to Iran has not
been seen for now and the attack on Rafah has been postponed".
He said Italy had to play its part "whether it be big or small,
following the Italian tradition of dialoguing with everyone".
The G7 ministers will also talk about Russia's attack on Ukraine
and Tajani has invited his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba
and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss this.
There will be a session on Africa, featuring Mauritanian Foreign
Minister Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug, and talks focusing on the
Indio-Pacific, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and the
fight against disinformation.
This year Italy holds the G7 duty presidency.
Mauritania President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani is currently the
chair of the African Union.
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