G7 Renewing Commitments
"We are renewing our commitment to provide the financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support Ukraine requires for as long as it takes.""We are imposing further sanctions and measures to increase the costs to Russia and those who are supporting its war effort.""Threats by Russia of nuclear weapon use, let alone any use of nuclear weapons by Russia, in the context of its aggression against Ukraine are inadmissible."G7 Summit Joint Statement
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| US President Joe Biden, Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Council Charles Michel, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, France's President Emmanuel Macron and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attend a working dinner session during the G7 leaders' summit in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima [Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan/Handout via Reuters |
At the G7 summit, leaders addressed among other issues, geopolitical threats from countries such as China, Russia and North Korea. The assembled nations condemned Russia for its nuclear rhetoric and threats to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus. The Hiroshima summit announced new sanctions on Russia along with fresh funding to guard against nuclear weapons' proliferation.
The training of Ukrainian pilots on U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets was announced by American President Joe Biden while convening and in expectation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joining them on Sunday. G7 leaders were apprised for the first time of Biden's endorsement of a training schedule for Ukrainian pilots on advanced fighter jets; a precursor to forwarding the jets to Ukraine.
"Russia started this war and can end this war", they declared, vowing "to stand together against Russia's illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked war of aggression" against Ukraine. The F-16 training, to take place in Europe, will likely be initiated in coming weeks. Biden also spoke of decisions on when, how many and who is to provide fourth-generation fighter jets to Ukraine for use in battle in the months ahead while training is underway.
This response to Zelenskyy's consistent call for the West to supply Ukraine with fighter jets for his country's defences against Russia's invasion should go a long way to aiding Ukraine in its ongoing counteroffensive, a response that was long in coming due to the U.S.'s reluctance in fears of a wider conflict and doubt their use could turn the tide of the war. Disbelief has turned to assent that the jets in battle could also become essential to long-term security in Ukraine.
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| Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, left, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky meet at the Grand Prince Hotel, during the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool via AP) |
"We were sure that our president would be where Ukraine needed him, in any part of the world, to solve the issue of stability of our country. There will be very important matters decided there [in Hiroshima], so physical presence is a crucial thing to defend our interests", stated Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, confirming Zelenskyy's summit attendance.
Nuclear threats issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as North Korea's months-long missile tests barrages and China's expanding nuclear arsenal have convinced the G7 that greater attention must be paid to Japan's push to identify nuclear disarmament as a major concern of the G7 summit where world leaders visited a peace park dedicated to the tens of thousands of Japanese who were killed in the world's first wartime atomic bomb detonation.
Even as G7 leaders arrived in Hiroshima, Moscow unleashed yet another attack on Kyiv. Explosions thundered through Kyiv in the early morning hours, the ninth time this month that Russian air raids targeted the Ukrainian capital following weeks of relative quiet.
On schedule for the G7 summit, a discussion on how best to deal with China's increasing assertiveness and military buildup leading to concerns that Taiwan's forced seizure may occur in the near future, leading to a wider conflict. Chinese President Xi Jinping is coincidentally to the G7 summit, hosting leaders of the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan for a two-day summit of their own in the city of Xi'an.
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| China's Xi Jinping awaits other leaders for a group photo session at the China-Central Asia Summit in Xi'an on Friday. (Florence Lo/Pool/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock) |
Labels: China Central Asia Summit, G7 Summit, Hiroshima, Russian Invasion, Ukraine
posted by Pieface @ Sunday, May 21, 2023
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