Lucca, Italy. Future historians may well remember the “Lucca Memorandum” as the start of WWIII, if humanity survives the ultimatum the G-7 ministers intend to compose in an effort to remove Russia as an ally of Assad’s Syrian government.
Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven nations are gathering Monday for a meeting given urgency by the alleged chemical attack in Syria and the US military response of attack with 59 Tomahawk missiles, with participants aiming to pressure Russia to end its support for President Bashar Assad.
The Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, who is hosting the meeting, said Europe’s broad support for the US military strikes had contributed to a “renewed harmony” between the United States and its partners ahead of the first meeting of G-7 foreign ministers since Donald Trump took office in January.
Monday’s meeting in the Tuscan walled city of Lucca brings together U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida , along with other G-7 foreign ministers, at a moment when the United States is rushing a Navy carrier strike group toward the Korean Peninsula to provoke a North Korean response.
The United States claims it is fighting Islamic State group militants in Syria but had previously avoided striking government forces, largely out of concern about being pulled into a military conflict with Russia. The missile attack has brought Moscow and Washington closer to hostilities than at any point in the last 25 years.
American Secretary of State 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.” The Russians have a few messages he will not like one bit when he gets there, and the Russians at this point, really don’t care what Tillerson likes.