World
Newsletter: G7 ministers to hold talks on war’s economic fallout
Good morning and welcome to Monday – I’m Mared Gwyn.
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Criticism has poured in from all corners of the world after Israeli police stopped the heads of the Catholic Church in Jerusalem from entering the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday, preventing them from privately celebrating mass in what the Latin Patriarchate has said is a first in “centuries”. We have more in our top story below.
But first, G7 crisis talks: G7 energy and finance ministers as well as central bank governors will hold urgent online talks later today amid fears that the economic fallout of the war in Iran is about to hit a tipping point – with another release of strategic oil reserves under consideration.
The US’s European and Asian allies are most vulnerable to the looming economic shock, putting added stress on the fraught Group of Seven. Tensions brimmed to the surface when G7 foreign ministers met in France last week, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashing with the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas when she asked when US “patience” with the Kremlin would run out, according to an Axios scoop.
European markets opened lower on Monday, with futures pointing to declines across major indices.
With oil and gas prices already spiralling, there is now fear that a protracted conflict could upend global supply chains as key commodities including fertilisers are trapped in the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway which has been effectively closed since the conflict broke out a month ago.
Signs of inflationary pressure and soaring borrowing costs are now making the looming crisis hard to ignore for the G7, which is yet to jointly introduce radical measures to cushion the impact on their economies beyond the release of strategic oil reserves. Several developing countries are already rationing fuel and subsidising energy costs.
My colleague Marta Pacheco reports that EU energy ministers are mulling a cap on oil prices or taxing the windfall profits of energy companies to rein in prices ahead of a virtual meeting tomorrow, Tuesday. Officials in Brussels acknowledge that while the crisis is not yet as acute as that of 2022 in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there is more limited “financial manoeuvring room” this time. Marta has the details.
Marta also reports that agriculture ministers gather in Brussels today, with France leading calls for swift action to tackle insecurity in Europe’s fertiliser market by easing measures tied to the EU’s carbon border rules. Fertilisers are essential to food production and EU farmers are already hit by soaring prices since the EU banned these chemicals from Belarus and Russia in July 2025.
Paris wants the bloc to temporarily suspend the bloc’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism – a pricing tool based on carbon emissions with which importers need to comply – on fertilisers and ammonia with retroactive effect from 1 January 2026.
An EU official told Marta that, should a suspension not get adequate political support, Paris could table a workaround which would involve compensating farmers using existing EU budget resources to cushion the impact of higher fertiliser costs.
France is also pressing the European Commission to accelerate work on a long-promised “European Fertilizer Sovereignty Plan” – a sign that concerns extend beyond short-term relief to the bloc’s long-term strategic autonomy.
Meanwhile, in the Middle East: The situation remains on a knife edge, with no warring party represented in talks on de-escalation between the top diplomats of Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt in Islamabad on Sunday.
Discussions explored ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz including introducing toll-like systems similar to the Suez Canal, Reuters reported, while broader diplomacy aims at a ceasefire and stabilising oil flows disrupted by the conflict. The mediators also contemplated the 15-point plan President Trump has passed on to Iran through Islamabad.
Yet, Trump has told the Financial Times in an interview that his preference is to “take the oil in Iran” by seizing the Iranian export hub of Kharg Island, all the while insisting that he is “pretty sure” that Iran will strike a deal.
The Washington Post meanwhile reports this morning that the Pentagon is preparing for a possible ground invasion into Iran. The Iranian parliament speaker accused the US yesterday of plotting a ground invasion in secret while publicly signalling appetite for talks, warning Tehran is waiting to “rain fire” on any American soldiers who enter its territory.
Outrage after Israeli police block Latin Patriarch from Palm Sunday mass
World leaders have voiced deep concern after Israeli police prevented the head of the Catholic Church in Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Palm Sunday mass, with the Vatican and Italy convening their Israeli ambassadors in response.
Both Cardinal Pizzaballa and the Custos of the Holy Land Father Francesco Ielpo were turned away by authorities in an incident the Latin Patriarchate has said “disregards the sensibilities of billions of people around the world”. It said the two were stopped while proceeding privately without any characteristics of a procession or ceremonial act, and had to turn back.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has led criticism, describing the Israeli police’s actions as an “offence to the faithful” and to “every community that recognises religious freedom”. French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the incident and said it fits in a pattern of a “worrying increase in violations of the status of the Holy Places in Jerusalem”.
Israel has claimed the priests were stopped due to “security concerns” amid the ongoing war with Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said overnight that Cardinal Pizzaballa had been asked to “refrain from holding mass” out of “special concern for his safety”, but that Israel has since ensured he is “granted full and immediate access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.”
Yet a spokesperson for the Latin Patriarchate has said that private masses have been taking place at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre since the start of the war, and that it remains unclear why the access of the two priests to Sunday’s Mass was any different.
Aadel Haleem and Orestes Georgiou Daniel have more.
Israel says it will crack down on settler violence in the West Bank, expands Lebanon incursion
A document seen exclusively by Euronews’ Sophie Claudet shows instructions by the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Israeli army and police to crack down on settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The instructions, shared in a non-public document titled “Prime Minister’s Directive on Combating Nationalist Crimes in Judea and Samaria,” are an exceedingly unusual move for the Netanyahu administration. Judea and Samaria are the biblical names of the area known today as the West Bank.
The army had announced last week it was diverting troops away from its ongoing offensive in Lebanon to the West Bank in order to rein in Jewish settler violence, in what would be the first time Israel pulls out forces from an active war front to dispatch them to a territory deemed far less dangerous or critical.
Yet since, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to “further expand the existing security buffer zone” in southern Lebanon, as its war against Hezbollah intensifies. Almost a fifth of Lebanon’s population has now been
displaced as a result of the conflict.
Read the full story.
More from our newsrooms
EU calls for Black Sea grain model to unblock Strait of Hormuz. The EU’s special envoy to the Gulf, Luigi di Maio, told Euronews in an interview in Doha on Friday that the EU wants to replicate the Black Sea deal agreed in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to unblock global supplies of grain in the Strait of Hormuz. Aadel Haleem has thefull story.
Two unidentified drones crash in southeastern Finland in ‘suspected territorial violation’. Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo says they are likely Ukrainian drones that went astray due to Russian jamming of signals as Kyiv carries out drone attacks on Russian territories along the border with Finland. Malek Fouda hasthe story.
Huge crowds protest against Trump in ‘No Kings’ rallies in the US and abroad. Millions of people took to the streets across the US – and to a lesser extent worldwide – on Saturday to protest against what they see as Trump’s authoritarian style of governance, hardline immigration policies, climate change denial and the war with Iran. Lucy Davolou has the details.
We’re also keeping an eye on
- EU agriculture and fisheries ministers gather in Brussels
- Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Germany for talks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz
That’s it for today. Marta Pacheco contributed to this newsletter. Remember to sign up to receive Europe Today in your inbox every weekday morning at 08.30.
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A massive ruby unearthed in Burma is being hailed as the second-largest ever discovered in the conflict-ridden country.
The ruby weighs about 11,000 carats — about 4.8 pounds — and was unearthed near Mogok in the Mandalay region, the center of Burma’s gem industry and an area affected by ongoing conflict, according to The Associated Press, citing state media.
The stone was found in mid-April, shortly after the country’s traditional New Year celebrations.
MAN STUMBLES ONTO RARE DIAMOND TREASURE DURING ARKANSAS PARK TRIP WITH FAMILY: ‘KNEW IT WAS DIFFERENT’
Burma’s newly discovered ruby is displayed at the president’s office in Naypyitaw on May 7, 2026. (Myanmar Military True News Information Team/AP)
Although it is roughly half the size of a 21,450-carat ruby discovered in 1996, experts say the new find could be more valuable because of its higher quality, the outlet reported.
It has a purplish-red color with slight yellow tones, moderate transparency and a highly reflective surface.
Burmese President Min Aung Hlaing and his cabinet have already inspected the stone in the country’s capital of Naypyidaw.
ONCE-IN-A-CENTURY TREASURES DATING BACK 4,500 YEARS UNEARTHED IN LEGENDARY CITY
Burmese officials inspect a newly discovered ruby at the president’s office in Naypyidaw on May 7, 2026. (Myanmar Military True News Information Team/AP)
Burma produces up to 90% of the world’s rubies, mostly from Mogok and nearby Mong Hsu.
The gem trade — both legal and illegal — is a major source of income in the country.
However, rights groups, including Global Witness, have long urged jewelers to avoid buying Burmese gemstones, saying the trade helps fund the country’s military governments, according to The Associated Press.
RARE 10-CARAT BLUE DIAMOND AMONG $100M WORTH OF GEMS GOING UP FOR AUCTION
This photo taken on May 16, 2019, shows miners working in a ruby mine in Mogok, north of Mandalay. (Ye Aung Thu/AFP via Getty Images)
Gem mining also finances ethnic armed groups fighting for autonomy, contributing to Burma’s long-running conflicts.
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The mining regions remain unstable.
Mogok was seized in July 2024 by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), an ethnic armed group. Control later returned to the military under a ceasefire deal brokered by China late last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The European Union is still struggling to decide if, how, and when it wants to talk directly with Russia to advance negotiations towards a lasting peace in Ukraine, as member states remain split on whether the benefits would outweigh the risks.
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The absence of political unity, an indispensable precondition for such a significant undertaking, was laid bare on Monday during a meeting of foreign affairs ministers in Brussels, where several representatives urged fresh sanctions rather than dialogue.
“(Vladimir) Putin is really not interested in real peace talks yet. So we need to put more pressure on Russia in order to change the calculus and make him interested,” Sweden’s Maria Malmer Stenergard said upon arrival.
“What will we discuss? What will be our demands? Can we agree on our demands on Russia?” said Lithuania’s Kęstutis Budrys. “What is our strategy and agenda, and what’s the goal? What’s the end state? It’s not dialogue as dialogue per se.”
Italy’s Antonio Tajani said the EU was “not at war” with Russia and it was “important” to be part of the ongoing negotiations, while Austria’s Beate Meinl-Reisinger noted it was time for Europeans to become active participants through their own team.
“We need to make up our mind,” said Finland’s Elina Valtonen.
The only point on which ministers agreed was that Europeans themselves should pick their envoy. The Kremlin’s suggestion to nominate Gerhard Schröder, the former German chancellor who has worked for Russian energy firms, was unequivocally dismissed.
At the end of the meeting, High Representative Kaja Kallas acknowledged that the topic was not yet mature and required further reflection among governments.
“The EU has always supported attempts to achieve a just and lasting peace,” Kallas said.
“For Europe to take a more active role, we must agree amongst ourselves what we want to talk to Russia about and what our red lines are.”
The High Representative, who previously said the EU should not “humiliate” itself by seeking direct talks with Russia, has been trying to bridge gaps among capitals with a draft document outlining the concessions Moscow should make.
The confidential document will be discussed later this month when foreign ministers meet again for an informal gathering in Cyprus. However, given the considerable divergences, a unified position is unlikely to emerge any time soon.
“We are not there entering the negotiations in any way,” Kallas cautioned. “Right now, we don’t see that Russia is really negotiating in good faith.”
If, how and when
The question of whether the EU should engage directly with Russia to end its war of aggression has been popping up in and out of the conversation since US President Donald Trump unilaterally launched a diplomatic process to end the war in Ukraine.
Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron, who last spoke with Putin in July 2025, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni publicly called on the bloc to change policy, arguing the fate of European security could not be left in American hands.
The debate lost traction after Macron’s advisor, Emmanuel Bonne, travelled to the Kremlin for exploratory talks and was given the cold shoulder.
But it has once again risen to prominence as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, which has shifted Washington’s focus and slowed down the mediation in Ukraine.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who seems increasingly frustrated with the White House’s course of action, asked Europeans to take a more active role.
“We need to find a workable diplomatic format, and Europe must be at the table in any talks with Russia,” Zelenskyy said at a summit in Armenia. “It would be good to develop one common European voice for talks with Russia.”
A few days later, European Council President António Costa said there was “potential” for the bloc to negotiate one-on-one with the Kremlin.
“I’m talking with the 27 national leaders to see the best way to organise ourselves and to identify what we need effectively to discuss with Russia when it comes to the right moment to do this,” Costa said in Florence, Italy.
The European Commission also weighed in. “We can see the merit of having one single figure speaking on behalf of the 27,” a spokesperson said.
Both Costa and the Commission were quick to note that direct talks would only make sense once the Kremlin showed willingness to compromise and make concessions. Putin insists that Kyiv give up the entire Donbas region and that the West recognise the occupied territories aslegally Russian — both demands that Zelenskyy firmly rejects.
Brussels is keen to avoid creating the impression that it is attempting to replace Washington, which might give Trump a reason to walk away for good.
On Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the EU should not pursue “alternative peace talks” but rather play a “complementary” role in the ongoing process.
Russia’s relentless bombardment of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, including a kindergarten last week, is another factor that makes officials and diplomats think twice.
Instead, some capitals prefer to wait and weaken Russia’s hand at the negotiating table. The country has begun to show signs of economic strain after 20 rounds of sanctions and was forced to pare down its Victory Day parade over fears of Ukraine’s strikes.
At the same time, Kyiv’s standing has been reinforced by the approval of the EU’s €90 billion assistance loan and the signing of multiple defence deals with Gulf countries.
“Russia must be pushed back to Russia,” Estonia’s Margus Tsahkna said. “Putin is not ready to talk about a lasting and just peace at all.”
Poland will soon host production lines for South Korean tanks. Australia is buying warships from Japan. Canada will send uranium to India, while India offers cruise missiles to Vietnam, and Brazil builds military transport planes for the United Arab Emirates.
All of these deals were sealed in the past few weeks. Each one represents an attempt by middle powers to protect themselves as the conflict in Iran throttles global energy supplies, and as a high-stakes summit between President Trump and Xi Jinping of China looms.
Global polls show the world has little trust in the United States and China. Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi have both used their enormous leverage over trade and security to coerce or punish. And in response, smaller nations are behaving as if they are stuck in “Godzilla” or “Dune” — moving quietly in small groups, trying not to provoke the wrath of petulant giants.
“It’s fifty shades of hedging,” said Richard Heydarian, a Filipino political scientist at Oxford University. Or, as Ja Ian Chong, a security analyst in Singapore put it, “No party wants to cross Beijing and now Washington, too.”
For countries watching from afar, dread and hope hover over the Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, which is scheduled for this week. In Asia, which has been hit hardest and fastest by oil shortages caused by the war and China’s tight control of oil-product exports, the mood is particularly grim. Interviews with officials, and statements from leaders traveling the globe to secure trade and defense deals, suggest that most middle powers feel overwhelmed by the deteriorating world order.
Many believe the summit carries more potential for harm than help. And Mr. Trump’s gut-driven approach to complex issues is the main source of anxiety.
For months, officials in Asia have worried that the president might be too eager to make a deal with Mr. Xi, ending weapons sales to Taiwan or agreeing to softened policy language that could make it easier for China to undermine the democratic island.
“That would be the biggest nightmare,” said one Taiwanese official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal government matters. He insisted that reduced support from the U.S. was unlikely.
But any concession on Taiwan could lead other American partners to fear abandonment. Beijing’s push for compliance on contested territory elsewhere would be bolstered, from the border with India to the South China Sea.
Vietnamese officials said that if President Trump makes a conciliatory gesture or flatters Xi, even without bigger compromises, China will gain leeway to press harder on smaller countries.
Another concern being discussed across the region: that Mr. Trump might alter long-term security plans in exchange for better economic terms with China.
Mr. Trump’s decision to redirect a carrier strike group from the Pacific and munitions from South Korea for the war in Iran may have created momentum for broader redeployments. When the Pentagon announced it would pull at least 5,000 troops from Germany after Mr. Trump expressed annoyance with the German chancellor, allies in Asia were again reminded how quickly collective deterrence can be weakened.
Mr. Trump has threatened in the past to make troop withdrawals from Japan, which hosts around 53,000 American military personnel — more than any other country — and South Korea, where another 24,000 Americans are stationed. If he could get something big from Mr. Xi for a drawdown, would he turn down the deal?
Analysts noted that plans opposed by China, such as AUKUS, a pact between Australia, England and the U.S. designed to counter Beijing’s influence by equipping Australia with nuclear-powered submarines and advanced technology, could also be suddenly canceled.
“The sense that U.S. allies have to look to one another because they can no longer look to America is very real,” said Hugh White, a former Australian intelligence official who teaches strategic studies at the Australia National University.
That sentiment is much stronger than “the cautious public language” of national leaders might suggest, he added.
European and Asian officials often talk privately in frank terms about giving up their faith in America, prompting a no-turning-back effort to diversify away from the United States. In casual discussions with reporters, they can sound a lot like Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada, who received a standing ovation in Davos this year for a speech that declared, “We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.”
But in public, they’re more circumspect. Some officials admit their countries are trying to buy time and evade Mr. Trump’s fits of pique, while continuing the performance of imperial fealty.
South Korean officials have simply expressed resignation over American military diversions, after making clear they felt betrayed in 2004, when President George W. Bush announced plans to move troops from Asia to the war in Iraq. Australia, Taiwan and Japan publicly and repeatedly stress the value of American leadership without caveats — even as U.S. tariffs and the war Mr. Trump started with Iran kneecap their economies.
Walking with Caution
No one wants to be seen stepping out of line.
Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has been bolder than most in trying to foster stronger relationships with other countries. Yet even as she crisscrossed the region promoting military cooperation, officials in Tokyo worried about how Washington would view her efforts.
“The Japanese don’t want Takaichi’s security cooperation and tour, especially to Australia, to be seen as a version of Mark Carney,” said Michael J. Green, the author of several books on Japan, and chief executive of the United States Study Centre at the University of Sydney.
Others have apparently reached the same conclusion. Mr. Carney’s recent visits to India and Australia did not yield strong statements from their leaders echoing his criticism of great power rivalry or his warning that if middle powers are “not at the table, we’re on the menu.”
At the same time, many countries — including some that are benefiting from the thickening of middle-power bonds — have been careful not to anger the world’s other hegemon, China.
Nations managing their own disputes with Beijing, such as Indonesia, have done less to rally around Japan than some in Tokyo would have liked, since Ms. Takaichi became embroiled in a diplomatic crisis after telling her Parliament that if China attacked Taiwan, Japan could respond militarily.
Vietnamese officials even pressed Ms. Takaichi to avoid directly criticizing China in her speech at a university on May 2 in Hanoi, according to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions. It is not clear if adjustments were made. Chinese officials later condemned her diplomatic efforts as “war preparation.”
And yet, in a sign of how middle powers are still doing more while saying less, the two countries signed six cooperation agreements, including one on satellite data sharing and another to secure deliveries for Vietnam’s largest oil refinery, potentially easing shortages.
“The U.S. has become more unreliable, so it makes sense to try to develop alternatives,” said Robert O. Keohane, an international relations professor at Princeton University. Even if what’s been formed so far is insufficient, he added, “having a weak alternative is better than having no alternative at all.”
Reporting was contributed by Tung Ngo from Hanoi, Vietnam; Javier C. Hernández from Tokyo; Amy Chang Chien from Taipei, Taiwan; Jim Tankersley from Berlin; Ian Austen from Ottawa; and Matina Stevis-Gridneff from Toronto.
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