G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Japan, November 2023: joint statement
Following their meeting in Tokyo, G7 foreign ministers gave a joint statement on a range of international issues.
Statement by G7 foreign ministers:
We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, are more united than ever in the pursuit of international peace, security, and prosperity. In this Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, we further enhance our cooperation to collectively respond to recent global and regional issues, building on our commitments by our leaders at the G7 Hiroshima Summit. We remain steadfast in upholding and strengthening the free and open international order based on the rule of law, respecting the United Nations (UN) Charter. We reiterate our strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the peacefully established status of territories by force or coercion anywhere in the world. Such attempts undermine the rule of law, which protects all nations, especially the vulnerable, as well as global security and human dignity. We also commit to further building international solidarity beyond the G7 to advance global economic development and address broader global challenges, such as climate change, nuclear disarmament, economic resilience and economic security, and gender equality including the Women, Peace and Security agenda. We remain deeply concerned about foreign interference, information manipulation, and other hostile actions designed to undermine our democracies. We call on all countries to respect their obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. We underscore the need to advance all of the Sustainable Development Goals to promote peace and prosperity for people and the planet, as reflected at the 2023 SDG Summit. We also take note of the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact. Our determination to meet our commitments on these issues is unwavering, and we will continue strengthening them towards the next year under the Italian Presidency.
1. Situation in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank
We unequivocally condemn the terror attacks by Hamas and others across Israel that began on October 7, 2023, as well as ongoing missile attacks against Israel. We emphasize Israel’s right to defend itself and its people in accordance with international law as it seeks to prevent a recurrence. We call for the immediate release of all hostages without preconditions. We express our deepest sympathy and condolences to the victims and their families of these attacks, as well as all civilians, Palestinian, Israeli, and others, including our own citizens, who have died or been injured during this conflict. Israelis and Palestinians have an equal right to live in safety, dignity, and peace. We reject antisemitism and Islamophobia in any form in our own societies and anywhere in the world.
We stress the need for urgent action to address the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Gaza. All parties must allow unimpeded humanitarian support for civilians, including food, water, medical care, fuel, and shelter, and access for humanitarian workers. We support humanitarian pauses and corridors to facilitate urgently needed assistance, civilian movement, and the release of hostages. Foreign nationals must also be allowed to continue to depart. We underscore the importance of protecting civilians and compliance with international law, in particular international humanitarian law. Since October 7, the G7 members have pledged an additional $500 million for the Palestinian people, including through the UN agencies and other humanitarian actors. We urge countries around the world to join us in this effort. We welcome the November 9 international conference in Paris on humanitarian issues.
The rise in extremist settler violence committed against Palestinians is unacceptable, undermines security in the West Bank, and threatens prospects for a lasting peace. The G7 members, along with partners in the region, are working intensively to prevent the conflict from escalating further and spreading more widely. We are also working together, including by imposing sanctions or other measures, to deny Hamas the ability to raise and use funds to carry out atrocities.
The G7 members are committed to working closely with partners to prepare sustainable long-term solutions for Gaza and a return to a broader peace process in line with the internationally agreed parameters. We underscore that a two-state solution, which envisions Israel and a viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace, security, and mutual recognition, remains the only path to a just, lasting, and secure peace.
2. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine
Our steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine’s fight for its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity will never waver. We continue to condemn in the strongest possible terms Russia’s ongoing aggression, and we commit to standing by Ukraine for as long as it takes while increasing economic pressure and imposing robust sanctions and other restrictions against Russia. A just and lasting peace cannot be realized without the immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of Russia’s troops and military equipment from the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine. We continue to support Ukraine in further developing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula. We are increasing our efforts to help Ukraine meet its winter preparedness needs, including by continuing to provide critical energy assistance.
Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and its announced deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus are unacceptable. Any use of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons by Russia would be met with severe consequences. We deeply regret Russia’s decision to revoke its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. We strongly support the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) continued presence and unfettered access at all of Ukraine’s civil nuclear sites. We will reinforce our coordination on sanctions to restrict Russia’s access to critical goods and technology. We will take further action to prevent the evasion and circumvention of our measures against Russia. We reiterate our call for third parties to immediately cease providing material support to Russia’s aggression, or face severe costs. In order to reduce the revenues that Russian extracts from its export, we will accelerate our consultation on energy, metals, and all non-industrial diamonds, including those mined, processed or produced in Russia.
Russia must cease its aggression and must bear the legal consequences of all its internationally wrongful acts, including compensation for the damage caused to Ukraine. We are united in our determination to ensure full accountability. In light of the urgency of disrupting Russia’s attempts to destroy the Ukrainian economy and Russia’s continued failure to abide by its international law obligations, we are exploring all possible avenues to aid Ukraine, consistent with our respective legal systems and international law. We reaffirm that, consistent with our respective legal systems, Russia’s sovereign assets in our jurisdictions will remain immobilized until Russia pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine. We reiterate our commitment to holding those responsible to account consistent with international law, including by supporting the efforts of international mechanisms, such as the International Criminal Court.
We recommit to supporting Ukraine’s immediate, medium, and long-term recovery and reconstruction in the face of Russia’s efforts to inflict immense suffering on the people of Ukraine. We are also working to involve our private sectors in the sustainable economic recovery of Ukraine. We welcome and underscore the significance of Ukraine itself continuing to implement domestic reform efforts, especially in the fields of anti-corruption, justice system reform, decentralization, and promotion of the rule of law, in line with the European path that Ukraine has embraced together with other partners, including Moldova, Georgia, as well as countries in the Western Balkans. We will continue to support efforts of the Ukrainian government and people in these endeavors. We will each advance, in close coordination, our work with Ukraine on specific, bilateral, long-term security commitments and arrangements in line with the G7 Leaders’ Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine, which now has 31 signatories.
We reaffirm our commitment to address the growing needs of vulnerable countries and populations impacted by Russia’s aggression. Russia’s weaponization of food has compounded economic vulnerabilities, exacerbated already dire humanitarian crises, and escalated global food insecurity and malnutrition worldwide. We deplore Russia’s systematic targeting of Ukrainian Black Sea Ports and civilian infrastructure and welcome steps by Ukraine to strengthen export routes free of Russian control. We continue to support fully the export of Ukrainian agriproducts, including through the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes, Danube ports, and its humanitarian maritime corridor. We reaffirm our aim to limit Russia’s energy revenues and future extractive capabilities, building on the measures we have taken so far. We continue to reduce our reliance on Russian energy, so that Russia is no longer able to weaponize its energy resources against us. We commit to working with nations around the world to enhance global food and energy security.
3. Indo-Pacific and the region
Together with regional partners, including ASEAN and its member states, South Asian countries as well as the Pacific Island countries, we will continue our endeavors towards a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is inclusive, prosperous, secure, and based on the rule of law, and that protects shared principles. We reaffirm our unwavering support for ASEAN centrality and unity. We continue to promote cooperation in line with the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific and the Pacific Islands Forum’s 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent respectively. We reiterate our commitment to support sustainable, inclusive, resilient and quality infrastructure in partner countries through the G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment.
We welcome Japan’s safe, transparent, and science-based process, including the continued monitoring of the situation, to responsibly manage the discharge of Advanced Liquid Processing System treated water in proactively coordinating with scientists and partners, particularly across the Indo-Pacific region, as well as with the IAEA. We acknowledge the reported monitoring results after each discharge to date, showing that the concentration of nuclides including tritium in sea water and marine products are far below internationally recognized standards.
We strongly condemn North Korea’s continuing build-up of its unlawful weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs. We reiterate our call for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and demand that North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons, existing nuclear programs, and any other WMD and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner in accordance with all relevant UN Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs). We call on all UN member states to fully and effectively implement all relevant UNSCRs and urge UNSC members to follow through on their commitments. In this context, we strongly condemn arms transfers from North Korea to Russia, which directly violate relevant UNSCRs. We urge Russia and North Korea to immediately cease all such activities. We deplore North Korea’s systematic human rights violations and its choice to prioritize its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs over the welfare of the people in North Korea. We also urge North Korea to resolve the abductions issue immediately.
4. China
We stand prepared to build constructive and stable relations with China, recognizing the importance of engaging candidly and expressing our concerns directly to China. We act in our national interests. We acknowledge the need to work together with China on global challenges as well as areas of common interest. We also call on China to engage with us on these issues. Our policy approaches are not designed to harm China nor do we seek to thwart China’s economic progress and development. We are not decoupling or turning inwards. At the same time, we recognize that economic resilience requires de-risking and diversifying. With a view to enabling sustainable economic relations with China, and strengthening the international trading system, we will continue to push for a level playing field for our workers and companies. We will seek to address the challenges posed by China’s non-market policies and practices, which distort the global economy. We will counter malign practices, such as illegitimate technology transfer or data disclosure. We will foster resilience to economic coercion. We also recognize the necessity of protecting certain advanced technologies that could be used to threaten our national security without unduly limiting trade and investment. We call on China to act as a responsible member of the international community. In this regard, we welcome China’s participation in the Ukraine-led peace process. We further call on China not to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine, to press Russia to stop its military aggression, and to support a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
We underscore that China has a responsibility to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter in their entirety. We remain seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas, strongly opposing any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. We reemphasize the universal and unified character of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and reaffirm UNCLOS’s important role in setting out the legal framework that governs all activities in the oceans and the seas. We reiterate that the award rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal on July 12, 2016, is a significant milestone, which is legally binding upon the parties to those proceedings, and a useful basis for peacefully resolving disputes between the parties. We reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as indispensable to security and prosperity in the international community and call for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues. There is no change in the basic position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including stated one China policies. We reiterate our support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations, including in the World Health Assembly and WHO technical meetings. We also remain concerned about the human rights situation in China, including in Xinjiang and Tibet. We further call on China to uphold its commitments under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, which enshrine rights and freedoms and a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong. We call on China to act in accordance with its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and not to conduct interference activities, aimed at undermining the security and safety of our communities, the integrity of our democratic institutions, and our economic prosperity.
5. Central Asia and South Caucasus
We remain resolved to support the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Central Asian countries. We welcome the intensification of regional cooperation and people-to-people links, which can boost creation of more business opportunities and new innovations. We renew our determination to strengthen cooperation with Central Asian countries to address regional challenges, including the global consequences of Russia’s war of aggression, the destabilizing effect of the situation in Afghanistan, including the human rights violations by the Taliban, terrorism, water security, and climate change. Against the backdrop of growing geopolitical risk, the diversification and expansion of trade routes in Central Asian countries not only brings economic growth to the region, but also has potential to improve global supply chains, including energy security. In this regard, we recommit to fostering trade and energy links, sustainable connectivity and transportation, including the Middle Corridor, and associated projects to enhance regional resilience. We also recommit to supporting socio-economic and political reform efforts in Central Asian countries.
We are gravely concerned over the humanitarian consequences of the displacement of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh after the military operation conducted by Azerbaijan. We urge Azerbaijan to fully comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law and welcome international efforts to address urgent humanitarian needs for those who have been displaced. We underline our support for advancing a sustainable and lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on the principles of non-use of force, respect for sovereignty, the inviolability of borders, and territorial integrity.
6. Iran
We call on Iran to refrain from providing support for Hamas and taking further actions that destabilize the Middle East, including support for Lebanese Hezbollah and other non-state actors, and to use its influence with those groups to de-escalate regional tensions.
We remain determined that Iran must never develop a nuclear weapon and reiterate that Iran must cease its unabated escalation of its nuclear program, which has no credible civilian justification and brings it dangerously close to actual weapon-related activities. We call on Iran to fulfill its legal obligations and political commitments regarding nuclear non-proliferation with prompt action, including the full and unconditional cooperation with the IAEA. We urge Iran to reverse the de-designations of the IAEA inspectors, which affects in a severe way the Agency’s ability to conduct effectively its inspections in Iran. A diplomatic solution remains the best way to resolve international concerns.
We express our grave concern regarding Iran’s other destabilizing activities, such as the development of ballistic missile programs, including under the guise of space launch vehicles, transfer of missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and related technologies to state and non-state actors, as well as training and funding of non-state actors. Iran must stop supporting Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Furthermore, we emphasize the importance of ensuring maritime security in the wider Gulf region’s waterways and call on Iran not to interfere with the lawful exercise of navigational rights and freedoms by all vessels.
We also express deep concern over the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran, including for women, girls, and minority groups, and condemn the targeting of individuals outside of Iran, including journalists and dissidents.
7. Africa
We remain steadfast in our commitment to deepening partnerships with African countries and regional and continental organizations. We welcome the African Union (AU) as a permanent member of the G20 as reflected in the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration. We will continue to support stronger African representation in other international fora, including the UNSC. We welcome the role of the AU and Regional Economic Communities and Mechanisms in promoting Agenda 2063 and mediating disputes and conflict. We express our concern over the deteriorating political, security, and humanitarian situation in some parts of the continent. We reiterate our commitment to support the preservation of peace, stability, and good governance and to promote sustainable growth and development in the entirety of Africa. We will continue to support governments in the region to tackle the underlying conditions conducive to the spread of conflict, terrorism, violent extremism, instability, persecution, irregular migration, and human suffering. We call for parties to conflicts to respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law; for safe, unhindered access for humanitarian actors to reach those in need; and for those responsible for atrocities committed during armed conflict to be held to account.
We reiterate our support to the UN in their efforts to advance the Libyan political process in order to hold genuine, free, fair, and inclusive elections without further delays.
We encourage Tunisia to implement reforms in order to enhance its economic and institutional stability.
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