By KUNA,
Toyako, Japan : The Group of Eight (G-8) nations renewed their commitments to continue to provide assistance to the Palestinians and helping to strengthen the Palestinian institutions, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who chaired said a three-day annual summit, told a press conference on Wednesday.
“We reiterated our full support for the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations with a view to reaching an agreement by the end of this year,” Fukuda said in a chairman’s statement on the final day of the G-8 summit at Lake Toya resort in northern Japan.
While welcoming the recent truce in Gaza, the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US urged all parties to implement their Road Map obligations, such as freezing all settlement activities and ending all acts of violence and terrorism, according to Fukuda.
As for Iran’s uranium enrichment activities, Fukuda said, “We expressed serious concern over Iran’s failure to comply with its international obligations,” adding that the G-8 nations remain committed to a diplomatic solution to the issue through the dual track approach.
The leaders also urged Iran to act in a “more responsible and constructive manner” in the region, particularly in the context of the Middle East Peace Process and the stability of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Japanese premier also said the world powers called on North Korea to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs as well as ballistic missile programs and return to full compliance with its the Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations.
In response to the sharp rise in oil prices, he said the major economic powers agreed to improve balance between supply and demand through efforts and dialogue by both oil-producing and consuming countries to improve transparency.
“We emphasized the need for increased production and refining capacities as well as more investment on the supply side. We also reiterated the importance to make further efforts to improve energy efficiency and pursue energy diversification on the demand side,” he noted.
“Recognizing also the need for greater transparency of energy markets, we supported the analysis on real and financial factors behind the recent surge in oil and commodity prices.” Fukuda also praised an agreement reached by the G-8 leaders at the summit urging the entire world to share the vision of halving global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 from 1990 levels, which was proposed by Japan.
“I would like to exercise leadership in climate diplomacy so that the long-term goal will be shared among U.N. members and adopted at the UN,” he noted.
With global warming, rising oil and food prices and African development top agenda, Toyako summit brought together leaders from 22 nations, including China, India and Brazil, the largest number in its history.