Rubio urges nations to ‘step up’ on Strait of Hormuz security

PARIS (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio pressed other nations Tuesday to “step up” and help protect shipping from Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz but acknowledged making no headway on the issue with his Group of Seven counterparts during talks in Paris.

“I raised it. I didn’t get a response,” Rubio said when asked how other G7 foreign ministers reacted to his appeal.

Rubio said the United States will continue to defend shipping through the strategic waterway, where vessels continue to face drone attacks.

“We’ve actually encouraged our partners to join us in the effort of defending global shipping,” he said after two days of talks in Paris on the Middle East, Ukraine and other issues.

U.S. allies including France have said fighting would have to stop before they could provide minesweepers and other assistance to safeguard tankers and other ships passing through the strait.

Rubio described the situation as “kind of a Catch-22.”

“Part of the challenge we have is there’s countries out there that say, ‘Well, we’re ready to provide forces to help defend shipping once there’s no risk of conflict,’” he said.

“We think it’s in the interest of the world to protect shipping because the U.S. doesn’t get any oil from there,” he added. “These countries should step up. I think a couple are thinking about it,” he said.

As three-way talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States were taking place in the United Arab Emirates, top G7 diplomats met with Ukraine’s foreign minister in France.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha started his day in Paris in talks with Rubio before heading to the French foreign ministry for a larger group meeting with the entire G7. Neither man spoke as they posed for photos ahead of their discussion.

The U.S. State Department said afterwards in a brief statement that the pair had “discussed negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war, energy resilience, and defense cooperation.”

The larger meeting was to address defense and security assistance to Ukraine, which the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has reduced, causing consternation not only in Kyiv but in capitals across Europe, the largest of which — Paris, Berlin, Rome and London — are G7 members.

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AP journalists Sylvie Corbet and John Leicester contributed.