Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven major powers have warned Ukraine risks being defeated by Russia unless it receives more air defences, as Kyiv urges a change in Western strategy towards the war.

More than two years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine is facing a shortage of ammunition, with vital funding from the US blocked by Republicans in Congress for months and the EU failing to deliver sufficient munitions on time.

G7 ministers kicked off a second day of talks on the Italian island of Capri by discussing the Middle East crisis and will turn their attention to Ukraine in the afternoon, when they will be joined by the head of NATO and Ukraine’s foreign minister.

The European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who attends G7 gatherings alongside US, Italian, German, French, British, Japanese and Canadian counterparts, urged EU nations to hand over air defence systems to help Ukraine protect its cities from Russia, which is targeting key infrastructure.

“Otherwise the electricity system of Ukraine will be destroyed. And no country can fight without having electricity at home, in the factories, online, for everything,” he said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the West had a different attitude towards Israel than his own country, noting that when Iran launched missiles and drones towards Israel on Saturday, US, British and French forces helped down them.

Italian FM concerned with Mideast escalation and Ukrainian situation. – AP

“The strategy of our partners in Israel seems to be in preventing damage and death. In the last months, the strategy of our partners in Ukraine seems to be in helping (us) to recover from damage,” he said ahead of the Capri talks.

“So our job today is to find a way where our partners will design a mechanism, a way that will allow us also to avoid death and destruction in Ukraine.”

USSecretary of State Antony Blinken echoed Borrell's call, saying he hoped new US funding for Ukraine would soon come through after being stalled in Congress, but that other allies needed to step up.

“In this moment, 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,” Blinken said after meeting with Kuleba.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani opened the first working session of the Capri meeting by calling for new sanctions against Iran for its weekend attack and concrete help for Ukraine to defend itself from Moscow’s attacks.

“If Ukraine loses, Putin will never sit at the peace table,” Tajani warned.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Germany's Annalena Baerbock, France's Stephane Sejourne, Canada's Melanie Joly and Italy's Antonio Tajani. – AP

Domestic political wrangling has delayed the delivery of desperately needed aid for Ukraine worth $60.84 billion, but the US House of Representatives might finally get to vote on the package this weekend, bringing some hope to G7 ministers.

“In these turbulent times, it is a hopeful sign that there are now signals from the Republicans in the US that support for Ukraine can be continued intensively,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in Capri.

Kuleba said he hoped to get immediate pledges this week on the delivery of more Patriot and SAMP/T air defence systems and also new Western sanctions targeting Iran’s production of armed drones, which are being exported to Russia.

Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war are taking centre stage at the Capri meeting, which dovetails with other regional diplomatic efforts sending the same messages. On Wednesday, EU leaders meeting in Brussels vowed to ramp up sanctions on Iran to target its drone and missile deliveries to proxies in Gaza, Yemen and Lebanon.

Opening Thursday’s talks, Tajani said the question of sanctions on Iran would be addressed as the West looked for ways to penalise Tehran for its missile attack on Israel, but also reiterated Western calls for Israel to show restraint.

“Any form of retaliation would compromise already fragile and delicate equilibriums,” Tajani said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends the meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Capri. – AP

It appears that such appeals will fall on deaf ears with Israel saying on Wednesday it would make its own decisions about how to defend itself, and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron saying it was apparent Israel planned to strike back.

Borrell said the existing EU sanctions regime on Iran would be strengthened and expanded to punish Tehran for its attack and help prevent future ones on Israel. At the same time, he said, Israel needed to exercise restraint.

“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,” he warned. “So stop it.”

Although the Middle East and Ukraine will dominate the G7 gathering, which finishes on Friday, the ministers will also look at ways of strengthening ties with Africa, discuss stability in the Indo-Pacific region and hold debates on issues including cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence.