Making a statement: Activists wearing face cutouts of world leaders taking part in a protest against what they called ‘Japan’s dirty energy policy’ ahead of the G7 summit in Hiroshima. — AFP
HIROSHIMA: World leaders landed in Hiroshima for a Group of Seven meeting, the site of the world’s first atomic bomb attack, with Russia’s war in Ukraine expected to be high on the agenda.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida kicked off his summit diplomacy by meeting with US President Joe Biden after his arrival at a nearby military base.
He was due to hold talks with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a bit later in the day, before the three-day summit opens today.
The Japan-US alliance is the “very foundation of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region,” Kishida told Biden.
“We very much welcome that the cooperation has evolved in leaps and bounds,” he said.
“When our countries stand together we stand stronger and I believe the whole world is safer when we do,” Biden said.
The US president exited Air Force One in heavy rain and briefly greeted troops on arrival at the nearby Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.
As G7 attendees made their way to Hiroshima, Moscow unleashed yet another aerial attack on the Ukrainian capital.
Loud explosions thundered through Kyiv during the early hours, marking the ninth time this month that Russian air raids have targeted the city after weeks of relative quiet.
“The crisis in Ukraine: I’m sure that’s what the conversation is going to start with,” said Matthew P. Goodman, senior vice-president for economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, said there will be “discussions about the battlefield” in Ukraine and on the “state of play on sanctions and the steps that the G7 will collectively commit to on enforcement in particular.” — AP
