EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warns Middle East ‘on edge of regional war’

EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell has warned the Middle East is on the edge of a regional war.

He made the comments on the Italian resort island of Capri where G7 foreign ministers are meeting to discuss the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.

“Humanitarian catastrophe continues,” he said. “Humanitarian support has increased, but [it’s] very, very, very, very insufficient. We have to ask Israel for a restrained answer to the Iranians attack. We cannot escalate.”

“I don’t want to exaggerate but we are on the edge of a war, a regional war in the Middle East, which will be sending shockwaves to the rest of the world, and in particular to Europe. So stop it.”

Ministers are also discussing the two-year war in Ukraine, with Borrell urging Western leaders to speed up military aid to Kyiv.

“It is urgent that all of the friends and supporters of Ukraine maximise their efforts to provide Ukraine with what it needs to continue to effectively defend itself against this Russian aggression,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“That means passing the supplemental, the extra budget request the president has made for Ukraine that we now hope will be before the House this weekend.”

The US and several European countries are discussing proposals to use the profits generated from billions of euros of frozen Russian assets to help provide weapons and other funds for Ukraine.

Those proposals have gathered steam as American efforts to secure funds for weapons have stalled in Congress.