Weakened Leaders of the West Gather in Italy to Discuss an Unruly World
The Group of 7 gathers major industrialized countries, but its leaders are politically weak and Ukraine and Gaza remain unsolved.
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Here is the group shot from the G7 summit, from left-right:
Charles Michel, Olaf Scholz, Justin Trudeau, Emmanuel Macron, Giorgia Meloni, Joe Biden, Fumio Kishida, Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen.
Sullivan said Hamas had submitted an amended proposal with some minor changes that could be worked out, as well as others that were not in line with what Biden had laid out or that had been embraced by the UN security council.
“Our goal is to figure out how we bridge the remaining gaps and get to a deal,” he said, adding that discussions would continue with Qatar and Egypt, who, in turn, would work with Hamas to reach agreement as quickly as possible.
Japan’s prime minister Fumio Kishida, Canada’s Justin Trudeau and French president Emmanuel Macron have all arrived, and the news wires are beginning to carry pictures of the leaders being greeted by Giorgia Meloni.
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- For us, the main issues are developing fighter jet coalition, expediting pilot training, and accelerating aircraft delivery.
- Development of the Ukrainian air defense system based on the most powerful western systems, as well as an increase in long-range capability.
Bilateral security agreements will be signed during meetings with US President Joe Biden and Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida.
The document with the United States will be unprecedented, as it should be for leaders who support Ukraine.
The entire Ukrainian people, including our warriors, see that the G7 will always support Ukraine. I am grateful to our partners for their belief in us and our victory.
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Patrick Wintour is in Puglia for the Guardian, and overnight he had this curtain raiser
A dramatic expansion of entities exposed to US sanctions for helping the Russian economy and an EU-led $50bn loan to ease the financial burden on Ukraine will be at the centre of discussions at a summit of the leaders of wealthy G7 nations in Puglia, Italy, starting on Thursday.
- the war in Ukraine,
- migration,
- Africa,
- the Middle East,
- the climate crisis and
- harnessing artificial intelligence (AI).
Italy has thrown open the doors and will welcome
- Pope Francis;
- Javier Milei, the populist president of Argentina;
- Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister; and
- Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president.
- The meeting is also billed by the US state department as the best opportunity to ease Ukraine’s financial burdens before the US’s presidential elections in November and send a message to Russia of western stamina. As much as feasible the G7 would like its decisions to be Trump-proof.
Read more of Patrick Wintour’s article here: G7 leaders head to Italy for summit as Ukraine and Russia top the agenda
Going into the event secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said members are set to take tougher action against Russian spies across the alliance in response to a campaign of hostile activities by Moscow that includes acts of sabotage and cyberattacks.
“We have seen several examples of sabotage, of arson attempts, of cyber attacks, of disinformation,” he told reporters, adding NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels later in the day would “address the Russian campaign of hostile activities.”
Good progress has been made on international efforts to unlock the value of frozen Russian assets to help fund Ukraine, Reuters reports US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday, adding he hoped for agreement by the time G7 leaders meet.
He said G7 leaders were more unified than ever on major issues, including Chinese industrial overcapacity
The first arrivals have been Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel representing the European Union, prime minister Rishi Sunak of the UK, and Olaf Scholz, chancellor of Germany.
Photograph: Luca Bruno/AP
Here is a picture of Giorgia Meloni’s arrival at the G7 summit.
While we wait for other G7 leaders to arrive, Reuters is carrying a quick snap that Ukraine and Japan are expected to sign a security agreement later today. At the same time Reuters reports Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Thursday he welcomed a sweeping new set of US sanctions imposed on Russia and praised the measures taken against its defence industrial base.
Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni has just arrived at the venue.
This is the scene at the Borgo Egnazia resort as G7 leaders are scheduled to begin arriving.
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