Turkey hosted foreign ministers from Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany and Britain in Istanbul on 23 October, with Italy also attending. The first collective R4-E3 meeting covered the Iran war, Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and Russia's war in Ukraine. [1] [2]
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the participants opposed a renewed attack on Iran and viewed diplomacy as the route to containing the conflict. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot separately warned that renewed escalation would raise oil prices. [1]
ContextThe meeting did not produce a ceasefire or a disclosed negotiating framework. It placed NATO member Turkey at the centre of a multi-country diplomatic effort linking regional security, energy risk and the war in Ukraine. [1]