G-7 Ministers aim to press Russia to stop backing Assad.
Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations were gathering in Italy Monday for a meeting given urgency by the chemical attack in Syria and the U.S. military response, with participants aiming to pressure Russia to end its support for President Bashar Assad and help mount a new push for peace. The meeting in Lucca brings together the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Britain, Japan and Canada – as well as the U.S. and current G-7 president Italy. Britain is keen for the ministers’ meeting to produce a tough statement and perhaps a threat of new sanctions if Moscow does not end its military support for Assad. Johnson, who canceled the trip in Russia at the last minute, saying the chemical attack had “changed the situation fundamentally”. Finally, Tillerson is due to travel to Russia after the G-7 gathering, and Johnson said he will deliver a “clear and coordinated message to the Russians”.