Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven industrialised nations met yesterday to forge a response to the deadly chemical attack in Syria. G-7 diplomats gathering in Lucca, Italy, hope to use outrage over the attack and wide international support for the United States’ retaliatory missile strikes to push Russia to abandon Syrian President Bashar Assad and join a new peace effort for Syria. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said they would consider imposing sanctions against Russian backers of President Bashar Assad.
Speaking after meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Johnson said ministers will be discussing the possibility of further sanctions, certainly, on some of the Syrian military figures and indeed on some of the Russian military figures.
