Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted the first joint meeting of the R4 and E3 foreign ministers in Istanbul,...

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted the first joint meeting of the R4 and E3 foreign ministers in Istanbul, bringing together regional and European powers to discuss crises across the Middle East and beyond.

The R4 group of Türkiye, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia met with the E3 of Britain, France and Germany, with Italy also joining at Ankara's initiative.

Attendees included Germany's Johann Wadephul, Britain's Ed Miliband, France's Jean-Noël Barrot, Egypt's Badr Abdelatty, Pakistan's Ishaq Dar, Saudi Arabia's Faisal bin Farhan and Italy's Antonio Tajani.

The agenda covered the Palestinian issue, including settlement expansion, settler violence and the two-state solution, as well as security in the Strait of Hormuz, Yemen, and efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war and prevent spillover into the Black Sea.

Fidan was expected to stress regional ownership of security and greater international pressure on Israel.