World leaders arrive in Hiroshima for G7 Summit, Kishida outlines key agenda items
Fumio Kishida and Joe Biden with wives (Photo: twitter.com/kyodo_english)
World leaders arrived in Hiroshima, Japan to participate in the Group of Seven (G7) summit, which starts on May 19. The war between Russia and Ukraine will be a significant point of the agenda, reports Kyodo News.
On Friday, the G7 leaders visited the museum in Hiroshima that documents the destruction caused by the U.S. atomic bomb in 1945. This event marked the beginning of the three-day summit.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who chairs the meeting and represents the constituents of Hiroshima, made nuclear disarmament a key point of the summit's agenda against the backdrop of Russia's nuclear blackmail in its war against Ukraine and China's rapid nuclear buildup.
President of the United States Joe Biden became the second sitting U.S. leader to visit Hiroshima. President of France Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak, and Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau made their first visits to Hiroshima as leaders of their countries.
Prime Minister Kishida had previously met with Biden and held talks with Sunak.
The Japan-U.S. alliance is the “very foundation of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Kishida in his opening remarks to Biden.
The American President, in turn, emphasized that when their countries "stand together, we become stronger."
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom arrived in Japan earlier on Thursday and visited the JS Izumo, a ship capable of carrying helicopters and vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
During their bilateral meeting on Thursday, Sunak and Kishida announced the conclusion of a series of new agreements in a wide range of areas, including defense, clean energy, cybersecurity, and semiconductors.
"The Hiroshima Accord will see us step up cooperation between our armed forces, grow our economies together, and develop our world-leading science and technology expertise. It marks an exciting next phase in the U.K. and Japan’s flourishing partnership," noted Sunak.
Agenda at the summit
Speaking to journalists aboard Air Force One, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan announced that there would be "discussions about the battlefield" in Ukraine and the "sanctions posture and steps that the G7 will take collectively."
Additionally, it is expected that the leaders of the G7 and invited guests from several other countries will discuss the situation with China against the backdrop of concerns that Beijing may attempt to attack Taiwan. They will also discuss the issue of North Korea's nuclear program and its recent series of missile tests.
Thus, during the meeting in Hiroshima, Kishida hopes to draw attention to the risks of nuclear weapon proliferation.
The leaders should discuss efforts to strengthen the global economy and address the problem of rising prices worldwide, especially in developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The G7 consists of Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, and Italy, as well as the European Union. Many other countries were invited to participate in the summit in Hiroshima.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not travel to Hiroshima for the G7 summit but will participate in the meeting of the G7 leaders in an online format on May 21.
Furthermore, it has been reported that the G7 leaders want to discuss holding a peace summit in Ukraine.
Earlier, it was reported that the United Kingdom intends to announce a ban on the import of Russian gemstones and diamonds, as well as imports of copper, aluminum, and nickel of Russian origin at the G7 summit.
In addition, plans to strengthen sanctions against Russia were outlined in the White House.
