Antony Blinken in Japan for G7 foreign ministers’ meet

Tokyo, November 7

Fresh from a whirlwind tour of the Middle East, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shifted his intense diplomacy on the Israel-Hamas war to Asia on Tuesday with an appeal for the Group of Seven leading industrial democracies to forge consensus on how to deal with the crisis.

As he and his G7 counterparts began two days of talks in Japan, Blinken said it was critically important for the group to show unity as it has over Russia’s war in Ukraine and other major issues and prevent existing differences on Gaza from deepening. “This is a important moment as well for the G7 to come together in the face of this crisis and to speak, as we do, with one clear voice,” Blinken said.