OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is holding a video meeting with his G7 counterparts today to discuss security issues around the globe related to the COVID-19 crisis.
Champagne and counterparts from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Union held the meeting to discuss “international peace and security key issues.”
A statement from Champagne’s office said the meeting allowed the foreign ministers to exchange views on how the pandemic relates to world flashpoints such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar, North Korea, Syria, and Ukraine and Russia.
It says the agenda also included talks on threats to democracy, including foreign interference, as well as terrorism, human rights and protecting the rules-based international order.
France held the rotating presidency of the G7 last year, but it has now been passed to the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump is to host his fellow G7 leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, at a summit in June, but it is unclear whether that face-to-face gathering will go ahead as planned.
“As the world faces an increasingly complex political and security landscape that is compounded by the global health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada remains committed to working alongside our G7 partners to tackle pressing and difficult global challenges,” Champagne said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2020.
The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press
