• G-7 foreign chiefs agree to continue pressuring Russia

WEISSENHAUS (Germany): Japan pledged up to $100 million in aid to developing countries in the Indo-Pacific region to help them better battle the COVID-19 pandemic, Foreign Minister HAYASHI Yoshimasa said at a three-day meeting of the Group of Seven major industrial nations.

Hayashi, as the only participant from Asia, led discussions on G-7 cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. He also raised concern over China’s activities in relation to the situation in Ukraine as well as over North Korea, which has been repeatedly test-firing ballistic missiles.

Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven major industrial nations agreed to continue applying pressure on Russia, which is invading Ukraine, with sanctions and providing assistance to Ukraine.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who chaired the meeting in Weissenhaus, northern Germany, told reporters after the talks that Russia is intentionally blocking Ukraine’s grain exports, adding that a plan on Ukrainian grain exports by rail is being considered as an alternative to shipments by sea.

The G-7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union.

Reuters (with inputs from JIJI)