G7 defense summit convenes during 'historic moment'
NAPLES
Italy's Defense Minister Guido Crosetto (L) welcomes US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin prior to the Group of Seven (G7) Defence Ministers Summit at the Palazzo Reale in Naples, Italy, on Oct. 19, 2024.
G7 defense ministers started talks on Saturday against a backdrop of escalation in the Middle East and mounting pressure on Ukraine as it faces another winter of fighting.
Italy, holding the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven countries, organised the body's first ministerial meeting dedicated to defense, staged in Naples, the southern city that is also home to a NATO base.
Italian defense Minister Guido Crosetto welcomed each of the attendees, who also included NATO chief Mark Rutte.
"I believe that our presence today... sends a strong message to those who try to hinder our democratic systems," Crosetto told ministers as he opened the event.
Crosetto said on Friday in Brussels he had requested the summit, given the many conflicts facing the international community.
"Ample space" would be given to discussing the escalating Middle East conflict during the one-day summit, Crosetto said.
Also on the agenda is the war in Ukraine, development and security in Africa and situation in the Asia-Pacific.
The meeting comes two days after Israel announced it had killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel that triggered the devastating retaliatory war in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sinwar's death in the Palestinian territory signalled "the beginning of the end" of the war against Hamas, while U.S. President Joe Biden saying it opened the door to "a path to peace".
Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, was in Lebanon on Friday, where Israel is also at war with Hamas ally Hezbollah.
Speaking in Beirut, Meloni slammed attacks on U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon as "unacceptable" after the U.N. force accused Israel of targeting their positions.
Italy has around 1,000 troops in the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, which has soldiers from more than 50 countries.
Ukraine prospects
On Ukraine, the ministers will contemplate Kiev entering a third winter at war, battlefield losses in the east -- and the prospect of reduced U.S. military support should Donald Trump be elected to the White House next month.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, under mounting pressure from Western allies to forge a winning strategy against Russia, on Thursday presented what he called a "victory plan" to the European Union and NATO.
Its main thrust is a call for immediate NATO membership, deemed unfeasible by alliance members.
It also demands the ability to strike military targets inside Russia with long-range weapons, and an undefined "non-nuclear strategic deterrence package" on Ukrainian territory.
Under discussion will also likely be reports, based on South Korean intelligence, that North Korea is deploying large numbers of troops to support Moscow's war against Ukraine.
NATO was not as yet able to confirm that intelligence, Rutte said on Friday.
Saturday's summit was to conclude with a press conference at 4:00 pm (1400 GMT).