The G7 leaders’ summit was dominated by the presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the West’s efforts to lessen its dependence on China. The world’s seven largest economies (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States), together with the European Union (EU), sought to show their unity at a G7 summit that took place in Hiroshima, the first in history to suffer an atomic bombing.
The G7 rejects the use of “economic coercion” for political goals, alluding to China
Further
These were the keys to the match, which lasted three days and ended this Sunday:
Zelensky and the capture of Bakhmut
Zelensky wanted to use the G7 summit to show Ukraine’s strength to the world, but many of his appearances were marked by news stories surrounding the city of Bakhmut, which Russia claims to have occupied after eight months of bloody fighting.
In a press conference this Sunday, the Ukrainian leader affirmed that Bakhmut “is not occupied by Russia today” and tried to clear up the confusion caused by statements he made to a journalist, saying that there are no longer “simple questions”. Just like there are no “simple answers”.
Apart from the controversy surrounding Bakhmut, Zelensky took advantage of the summit to meet for the first time with the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who has refused to align himself with the West in his condemnation of the war; but he said that he could not see his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, “because there were no steps” by the Latin American.
Differences within the G7 over China
Until Zelenski’s appearance, China was one of the focuses of this summit. Even so, the G7 tried to overcome their internal differences on China and, in its final declaration, advocated reducing what it considers an “excessive” dependence on the Asian giant when it comes to accessing supplies in key industries such as technology.
Despite everything, the tone was conciliatory and the text did not even expressly mention Beijing when it referred to the issue of “economic coercion” in an attempt to please France and Germany, French President Emmanuel Macron revealed this Sunday.
Training for Ukrainian pilots
Although much of the debate revolved around China, most of the concrete measures announced during the G7 had to do with the war in Ukraine.
One of the big news was that US President Joe Biden told his G7 partners on Friday that the United States would help train Ukrainian pilots to operate US-made F-16 fighters and opened the door to delivering those planes to Ukraine in the future.
“I have a full guarantee from Zelensky that they will not use them to go ahead and move against Russia on their geographic territory. Another thing is if the Russian troops are inside the Ukrainian area,” Biden said at a press conference.
The pressure to deliver these aircraft to kyiv has grown in recent months. In fact, EU countries (of which Germany, France and Italy are represented in the G7) are debating internally how and when to ship the F-16s and potentially other European-made aircraft, while the UK The United Kingdom and other EU members have launched an “international coalition” with the same goal.
Punishment for those who help Russia dodge sanctions
Another highlight of the G7 was the announcement of sanctions against Russia, an initiative led by the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, which wanted to punish the hundreds of individuals and companies that are helping the Kremlin to avoid the sanctions that the West has imposed from the beginning. of the invasion in February 2022.
Meanwhile, the EU announced that it is preparing a new package of sanctions that will include restrictions on Russian diamond exports, one of the Kremlin’s major sources of financing and which three members of the Group of Seven (USA, Canada and the United Kingdom).
Record attendance from countries of the “global South”
With an eye on the long term, the G7 summit in Hiroshima will also be remembered for having highlighted the importance of the countries of the so-called “global south”, which were invited in record numbers by Japan, host of the event.
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will assume the G20 presidency next year, and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, who currently leads that international forum, participated in debates on development, food security and energy.
They also spoke with other world leaders about Ukraine. According to a source who had access to the G7 talks, Lula questioned that the talks on the war are not taking place within the framework of the UN Security Council, while Modi spoke “forcefully” about the principle of sovereignty. , in an apparent change of speech.
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