The G7 countries are having a summit in Japan. Biden arrived yesterday, his granddaughter Maisy, a recent college graduate, in tow. She is one of Hunter’s daughters. He planned to make it an eight-day trip but it has been shortened by half due to negotiations in Washington over the debt ceiling. Biden should have had a deal crafted already but he stubbornly refused to meet with Speaker McCarthy for weeks. Now time is running out. So, Biden will only have a stop in Japan, instead of three stops. His goal is to coalesce the G7 leaders around a commitment to take on China’s aggressions and support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. There will also be discussions about artificial intelligence.
No doubt Biden will face questions from the others about the debt ceiling negotiations. Other leaders will be concerned about a possible default (which will never happen) and its threat to global economic stability.
Biden met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the eve of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima. Biden’s focus was on emphasizing the close relations between the United States and Japan in the face of China’s growing military and economic ambitions, and there was talk about Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Arriving at the Itsukushima Shrine, Biden stumbled as he went down a flight of stairs. He didn’t fall but the stumble was noticeable. I point out Biden’s stumbles and falls because during the previous administration, when Trump cautiously walked down a ramp, the press and its leftist cohorts went nuts. They mocked him for taking the ramp slowly to avoid falling. Biden stumbles and falls up stairs frequently. It happens. Even to lefty old men.
World leaders gather for a trip around a famous shrine on Miyajima Island, hosted by the Japanese prime minister.
Arriving at the Itsukushima Shrine, the president almost stumbles on a flight of steps but steadies himself successfully.
Read more: https://t.co/i9U1oEaeky pic.twitter.com/SDALN46WbZ
— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 19, 2023
Guess who is coming to the G7? Ukraine President Zelensky. The host of the G7 is allowed to invite others to attend certain parts of the summit and in this case, Japan has invited Zelensky, India, and Brazil. India has not given any support to Ukraine in its war against Putin’s invasion, likely because of its close relationship with Russia. Brazil has not given any support to Ukraine, either. Zelensky will come as a part of his diplomatic tour currently underway. On his way to Ukraine, Zelensky stopped at the Arab League summit in Jeddah on Friday.
Zelensky was on a three-day European tour garnering support from countries like France and the U.K. He seeks replenishment of Ukraine’s depleted stockpile of weapons.
Wealthy Gulf countries have provided aid to Kyiv, but have also tried to take a more cautious approach to the war due to their ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Saudi Arabia, in particular, has attempted to position itself as a mediator. Last September, the Gulf kingdom and its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman mediated a rare prisoner swap between Kyiv and Moscow, which included two U.S. veterans who had gone to Ukraine to help fight against Russia.
Beginning my first-ever visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to enhance bilateral relations and Ukraine’s ties with the Arab world. Political prisoners in Crimea and temporarily occupied territories, the return of our people, Peace Formula, energy cooperation. KSA plays a…
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 19, 2023
An interesting tidbit in the reporting of the Arab League summit – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is participating for the first time in more than a decade. He has been heavily supported by Russia during the country’s 12-year civil war.
According to the AP, Zelensky is expected to attend the G7 summit in Hiroshima on Sunday, citing Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council secretary Oleksiy Danilov.
“Our support for Ukraine will not waver,” the G7 leaders said in a statement released after closed-door meetings, vowing “to stand together against Russia’s illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.”
“Russia started this war and can end this war,” they said.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, confirmed on national television that Zelenskyy would attend the summit.
“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,” Danilov said Friday. “There will be very important matters decided there, so physical presence is a crucial thing to defend our interests.”
The G7 members announced a new round of sanctions against Russia, with a focus on preventing Russia from using the international financial system to prosecute its war.
After group photos near the city’s iconic bombed-out dome, a wreath-laying and a symbolic cherry tree planting, a new round of sanctions were unveiled against Moscow, with a focus on redoubling efforts to enforce existing sanctions meant to stifle Russia’s war effort and hold accountable those behind it, a U.S. official said. Russia is now the most-sanctioned country in the world, but there are questions about the effectiveness of the financial penalties.
The U.S. component of the actions would blacklist about 70 Russian and third-country entities involved in Russia’s defense production, and sanction more than 300 individuals, entities, aircraft and vessels, said a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the announcement.
The official said the other G7 nations would undertake similar steps to further isolate Russia and to undermine its ability to wage war in Ukraine. Details were to emerge throughout the weekend summit.
No doubt Zelensky will find a friendly audience at the G7 on Sunday, with members eager to agree on further support for Ukraine against Putin’s invasion.
“We need to give Ukraine the tools now to successfully defend itself and regain full sovereignty and territorial integrity. We should provide Ukraine the necessary military and financial support. And we have to do this as long as it takes,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
Safe travels to Zelensky as he continues his diplomatic tour to secure support in Ukraine’s fight against Putin’s aggression. And hopefully Biden will remain upright for he rest of his trip.
Update: As I scan this post before I hit the ‘publish’ button, I see the chyron on FNC says that according to the AP, Biden backs training Ukrainian pilots on F16s. So, that’s a new development from Japan. It’s a pretty major move, especially given that Biden said up until now that it would not happen.
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