Closing summary
Here’s a recap of the first day of the G7 summit in Puglia, Italy:
The US and Ukraine signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement seen by Kyiv as a stopgap on the road to joining the Nato alliance. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, at a press conference, called it a “historic day” and thanked Joe Biden and “everyone in America” for the US’s continued support.
Joe Biden said the security pact would make Ukraine “strong, sustainable and resilient”. Russia’s war has been a test of the world, the US president said at the joint presser, adding that the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin “cannot wait us out. He cannot divide us.”
Ukraine also signed a bilateral security deal with Japan on Thursday, providing Ukraine with $4.5bn this year and support for the next decade. Zelenskiy hailed the “unique document with one of the world’s most economically and technologically advanced countries” and thanked Tokyo for its “unwavering support”.
Italy has been accused of scrapping a reference guaranteeing access to “safe and legal” abortions in the text of the G7 summit’s final declaration. The US and France have pushed back on the reported attempt by Italy’s prime minister, Georgia Meloni, with the French president Emmanuel Macron expressing regret at Rome’s position.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, has praised an agreement reached on guaranteeing a $50bn loan to Ukraine using profits from frozen Russian central bank assets held in Europe. “It is a strong signal that we are sending to Ukraine that we will support Ukraine in its fight for freedom for as long as it takes,” she said. “It is also a strong signal to Putin that Putin cannot outlast us.”
Russia has said that the G7 agreement to provide Ukraine with $50bn in loans by using interest from frozen Russian assets would be criminal. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said attempts by the west to take the income from frozen Russian assets would lead to a response from Moscow that would be very painful for the EU.
The UK, US and Canada have accused Russia of a plot to interfere in Moldova’s presidential election and referendum on EU membership later this year. In a pointed joint statement issued on the first day of the G7 summit in Italy, the three governments accused Russian actors of “spreading lies” and “seeking to undermine Moldovan democratic institutions” in a campaign of political interference stretching back years.
Zelenskiy: US-Ukraine security agreement 'benefits everyone in the world'
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, warns that Russia is a “real global threat” and notes that the security agreement between his country and the US is an agreement on “how our nations will become stronger”.
This is an agreement on steps to guarantee sustainable peace and therefore it benefits everyone in the world.
Zelenskiy also notes that the agreement is a “bridge” to Ukraine’s membership in Nato.
Joe Biden, answering a question from a reporter, says the US has not changed its position on providing longer-range weapons that would go further into Russia.
Biden also expresses his support for his son, Hunter Biden, who was convicted of thee felony gun charges this week. He reiterates that he will not pardon his son.
I’m not going to do anything. I said I’d abide by the jury decision. I will do that.
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy also thanks Biden for his leadership on the G7 decision on a $50bn loan for Ukraine, and says it is a vital step forward in providing sustainable support for Ukraine.
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Zelenskiy says this is a 'historic day' after signing security agreement with US
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, says today is a historic day, and that the deal is an agreement “on security and thus, on the protection of human life”.
Zelenskiy says the security deal with the US is the strongest agreement since Ukraine’s independence, as he thanks Joe Biden for his leadership and for his years of support for Ukraine.
I’m proud of our people and what Ukraine can do. And I’m very grateful to all Americans, to everyone in America, who stresses American leadership.
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The G7 has achieved “significant” outcomes in the matter of Russia’s frozen assets, Joe Biden says.
He says the steps taken by the G7 will create a stronger foundation for Ukraine’s success.
Biden: Lasting peace for Ukraine must be underwritten by Ukraine's ability to defend itself
Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskiy are holding a joint press conference, just over two hours behind schedule, after signing a 10-year bilateral security agreement at the G7 summit.
Biden begins by saying that lasting peace for Ukraine must be underwritten by Ukraine’s ability to defend itself now and to deter future aggression anytime in the future.
The US is going to help ensure Ukraine can do both by sending American troops, funding new weapons and ammunition, expanding intelligence sharing, continuing to train Ukraine’s troops and bases in Europe and the US, and investing in Ukraine’s defense industrial base, Biden says.
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Macron deplores lack of abortion reference in G7 declaration
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has said “I regret this” when asked about the lack of reference to abortion in the text of the G7 summit’s final declaration.
France does not share the same sensitivites regarding abortion as Italy, Macron told reporters.
France “has included women’s right to abortion, the freedom of decision on one’s own body, into its constitution,” he said, adding France defends “this vision of equality between women and men”, AP reported.
Addressing an Italian reporter on the sidelines of the G7 summit, the French leader said:
It’s not a vision that’s shared across all the political spectrum … I regret it, but I respect it because it was the sovereign choice of your people.
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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has called on the G7 leaders to approve “Marshall Plan” for Ukraine’s recovery after the war.
A readout of his speech posted on the Ukrainian president’s website referenced the multi-billion dollar programme between the US and Europe after the second world war. Zelenskiy said:
We need a clear plan for the recovery of Ukraine. Similar to what the Marshall Plan was for Europe after the war.
Zelenskiy called on the group to agree on a recovery plan “in time for the Nato summit in Washington,” which will take place in early July.
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All G7 countries will contribute to a loan package worth some $50bn to Ukraine backed by proceeds from frozen Russian assets, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, has said.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the G7 summit, she said:
All G7 are contributing to this loan. It is the windfall profits from the Russian immobilised assets in Europe that will serve it.
She added:
The finance ministers are now going through the details – for example, the topic of backstops that are necessary – and (will) clarify this as soon as possible.
The G7 has agreed to provide Ukraine with loans worth around $50 bn by end of year.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) June 13, 2024
We'll use the windfall profits from Russia’s sovereign assets to repay them.
This builds on EU action, where we are already directing these windfall profit to Ukraine's defence & reconstruction. pic.twitter.com/nYu2g78X18
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Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz has described a deal by G7 leaders to lend $50bn to Ukraine from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets as a “historic step”.
Scholz, speaking to reporters at the G7 summit in Italy, said the deal is “a very strong commitment” that gives Ukrainians “the courage to do what is now necessary for them to defend their independence and sovereignty”, AP reported.
The agreement is also “a clear signal” to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, that he “cannot simply take advantage of a situation and hope that he will succeed in winning this war” because some countries supporting Ukraine are now facing fiscal problems, he said.
Biden and Zelenskiy to hold joint news conference after signing 10-year security agreement
The presidents of the US and Ukraine, Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, are about to hold a joint press conference after signing a 10-year bilateral security agreement at the G7 summit in Italy.
The agreement is meant to be a step towards Ukraine’s eventual Nato membership, according to the text of the deal, Reuters reports. The text reads:
The parties recognize this agreement as supporting a bridge to Ukraine’s eventual membership in the NATO alliance.
It states that in the event of an armed attack or threat of such against Ukraine, top US and Ukrainian officials will meet within 24 hours to consult on a response and determine what additional defense needs are required for Ukraine.
Under the agreement, the US restates its support for Ukraine’s defense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, amid a renewed push by Russia on Ukraine’s eastern front.
To ensure Ukraine’s security, both sides recognize Ukraine needs a significant military force, robust capabilities, and sustained investments in its defense industrial base that are consistent with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)standards.
The United States intends to provide long-term materiel, training and advising, sustainment, intelligence, security, defense industrial, institutional, and other support to develop Ukrainian security and defense forces that are capable of defending a sovereign, independent, democratic Ukraine and deterring future aggression.
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US president Joe Biden briefly spoke to reporters after posing for photos following a skydiving demonstration.
Asked if the leaders discussed the Gaza ceasefire deal, Biden said, “Yes,” per pool report.
Asked if he was confident they would get a deal soon, he said “No,” adding “I haven’t lost hope.”
“Hamas has to move,” Biden added.
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G7 leaders have been pictured attending a skydiving demonstration on the first day of the summit in Savelletri, Italy.
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Italy has demanded to remove reference to “safe and legal abortion” from the text of the G7 summit’s final declaration, Reuters reported, citing diplomats.
Italian media have reported that a sidebar clause on abortion rights had been left out of a last draft of the final declaration circulated on Wednesday.
The clause had been intended to reinforce an agreement by the G7 members in Japan last year that they would guarantee “effective and safe access to abortion”.
It also committed to sexual and reproductive health rights for all, “including by addressing access to safe and legal abortion and post-abortion care”.
One diplomat was cited as saying:
All the other countries backed them, but it was a red line for Meloni so it is absent from the final text.
A senior US official told reporters that the US president, Joe Biden, “felt very strongly” that he did not want the reference to disappear from the text.
Unsurprisingly, the former Ukrainian minister of the economy and now president of the Kyiv School of Economics, Tymofiy Mylovanov, said the government was keen to move on from the sound and fury around both men’s departures, and to present instead, its Ukraine Investment Guide, a glossy brochure which, over 238 pages highlights the 95 projects worth more than $27bn for investors including detailed information on Ukraine’s vast “investment landscape”.
This, say others close to the government, is attestation to the “commitment the government has for the reconstruction process”, in contrast to what Nayyem’s allies are saying.
According to the conference organisers, deals worth $16bn in relation to these investments, were sealed at the two day event. Mylovanov said:
If you look at actual evidence, Ukraine is moving according to the plan.
Returning briefly to talk about Mustafa Nayyem, who he described as a friend, he referred to his key role in the Maidan revolution of 2014, after he called for street protests which eventually became the the revolution which toppled Viktor Yanukovych and his government, and said that was what he would be remembered for.
He is the one who triggered the revolution in 2014. He’ll be in the history books, I probably won’t.
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Former Ukrainian minister of the economy Tymofiy Mylovanov, who is now president of the Kyiv School of Economics, told the Guardian in an interview on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery conference in Berlin that the dismissal of Kubanov and the subsequent resignation of Mustafa Nayyem was a “normal part” of the cut and thrust of a healthy democratic administration and an unsurprising component in any organisational switch.
Mylovanov said:
It’s the friction you get in a democracy but not in a dictatorship. It’s like getting the flu, which ultimately strengthens your immune system.
Recalling when he had entered his post as economy minister in 2019, he said:
I had no time to care about whether people (in the ministry) were corrupt or not, I just fired everyone who was in the way. I was not cleaning up the ministry, I was getting land market reform through. That was my goal.
Had he had longer in the job (he held the post until 2020) he might have taken it slower. “I would probably say, let’s take it slow … let’s engage people, let’s train, upskill … and then go for the reforms.”
He said Nayyem had arguably concentrated too much on fundamental change and whilst he did not deny that tackling corruption was important, often more urgent, practical progress, especially at this, a time of war, was needed.
In that job people judge you every two weeks, especially when they don’t have the buildings they need because you’re concentrating on reforming the environment, on tackling corruption on a local level, which is all well and good, but not when you need the buildings.
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Following recent reports over differences of opinion in the Ukrainian government over its reconstruction procedures, including suggestions that some of its foreign partners had expressed misgivings over the Kyiv administration’s direction and reliability, as well as concerns about centralising tendencies in Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration, there has been considerable pushback on the sidelines of negotiations both at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) and in briefings leading up to the current G7 meeting and the upcoming Peace Summit in Switzerland.
Existing concerns were brought to a head following the recent firing of Oleksandr Kubrakov as infrastructure minister and the subsequent resignation of Mustafa Nayyem, who Kubrakov had hired as the head of Ukraine’s agency for infrastructure and redevelopment.
Kyiv sources had suggested that the men had been thought to be too free-spirited in their thinking and at the same time had been too close to their western donors. Nayyem stands accused by some of focusing too much on anti-corruption efforts and was therefore too slow delivering on recovery, even though many argue the two go hand in hand.
The Guardian reported this week that Nayyem felt he had been systematically undermined by the government from doing his job and had been prevented from attending the URC.
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Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his US counterpart, Joe Biden, are scheduled to deliver a press conference from Italy shortly.
The two leaders are slated to sign a 10-year bilateral security agreement at the G7 summit, a deal that Zelenskiy has described as “unprecedented”.
Kyiv has signed 15 bilateral security agreements with other countries since the full-scale Russian invasion began in 2022, including with the UK, France, Germany and Italy. As with the other bilateral pacts, the agreement with the US will not require America to come to Ukraine’s defence if attacked. But it could make it easier for Ukraine to enter into peace negotiations with Russia, as Kyiv would have some assurance about the help it would receive in the event of a further Russian attack.
The US-Ukraine agreement does not require the authorisation of Congress and could be undone by a future Trump administration.
Biden has said previously that guarantees for Ukraine would be equivalent to those to Israel, covering financial and military assistance as well as the possibility of the joint weapons production.
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Pope Francis is expected to met with the leaders of the US, Ukraine, France and India, among others, on the sidelines of the G7 summit, the Vatican has said.
Francis, who has previously warned against the “perverse” dangers of artificial intelligence, will take part in leaders’ talks on AI on Friday.
Francis is the first pope to participate in G7 discussions, Reuters reported.
The Vatican said he will have a bilateral meeting with Joe Biden, as well as one-on-one meetings with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy, France’s Emmanuel Macron, India’s Narendra Modi, Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Canada’s Justin Trudeau, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kenya’s William Ruto, Algeria’s Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and the head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva.
G7 leaders 'concerned' about Israel's ongoing ground operations in Rafah – draft statement
G7 leaders are preparing to express their concerns about Israel’s ongoing ground operations in Rafah, but will not explicitly call on Israel to stop their current actions or set out any consequences if they do not.
The draft statement reads:
We are concerned about the consequences of the ongoing ground operations in Rafah on the civilian population and the possibility of a large-scale military offensive that would have further disastrous consequences on civilians. We call on the Government of Israel to refrain from such an offensive, in line with its obligations under international law.
It also urges “all parties must refrain from any unilateral action that undermines the prospect of a two-state solution, including Israeli settlement expansion and the ‘legalization’ of settlement outposts. We condemn the increase in extremist settler violence committed against Palestinians, which undermines security and stability in the West Bank and threatens the prospects for lasting peace.”
We reiterate our firm commitment to the vision of a two-state solution in which two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, coexist side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, in line with international law and relevant resolutions of United Nations, and in this regard we underline the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.
Predictably it backs the peace plan outlined by Joe Biden, but gives no interpretation on the issues Hamas is seeking further clarification including the withdrawal of Israeli Defence Forces troops.
On humanitarian aid the G7 “will urge all parties to facilitate the rapid and unhindered passage of humanitarian aid to civilians in need, especially women and children”.
It says Israel should “ensure full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access in all its forms, in line with international humanitarian law, and through all relevant land crossings, including the Rafah crossing, through maritime delivery routes, including the port of Ashdod, and throughout Gaza, remains an absolute priority”.
It sets no date for the recognition of a Palestinian state, saying “We note that mutual recognition, including the recognition of a Palestinian state, at the appropriate time, would be a crucial component of such a political process.”
It also calls for the unification of Gaza and the West Bank under the rule of the Palestinian Authority.
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At the interim hearing on Thursday, Jemima Stratford KC for Amnesty International and HRW argued the organisations have broad international experience on state compliance with international humanitarian law that differs from Al-Haq’s.
Sean Aughey for Oxfam argued that as an agency working on the ground in Gaza, they have witnessed first-hand, the devastation the IDF has caused on life-saving aid and vital infrastructure.
Jessica Wells KC on behalf of the secretary of state for business and trade said: “It needs to be established that anything HRW, Amnesty or Oxfam are adding is really necessary,” adding, “The court won’t be assisted by further untargeted evidence.”
At the hearing’s outset, Justice Farbey expressed concern at the length of Amnesty and HRW’s submission, including 265 footnoted documents and a 42-paged annex, of open source evidence of Israel’s actions including forced displacement, targeting practices and the provision of access to aid.
Justice Fabey granted the organisations the opportunity to provide a shorter document, and permitted Oxfam a written and oral intervention in the substantive case, due to be heard in mid October. The organisation’s chief executive, Halima Begum, said:
Oxfam has been systematically prevented from getting life-saving aid into the enclave, and our staff and partners face a constant threat to their lives while trying to sustain basic humanitarian operations.
Welcoming the decision, Amnesty International’s UK chief executive, Sacha Deshmukh, said he believed it “vital” the court has the opportunity to review human rights evidence from themselves and HRW. Deshmukh said:
Our evidence demonstrates the gap between the Israeli military and political leadership’s policies and practices and their legal obligations,.
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The UK high court has granted international human rights organisations permission to intervene in an ongoing legal challenge to suspend UK arms sales to Israel.
Oxfam, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday joined the case being brought by the Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq and the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (Glan), who applied for a judicial review of the government’s export licences for the sale of British weapons capable of being used in Israel’s action in Gaza, which has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians.
“In my judgement Oxfam’s evidence is ready, concise and targeted at matters that concern its own experience as a humanitarian organisation operating in Gaza,” Justice Farbey said, adding that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch would be allowed to provide written evidence to the court.
The two intervention applications put forward by Oxfam, and Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are expected to bring more legal firepower to the legal challenge which has called for a review of the UK Department for Business and Trade’s export licences for the sale of British weapons capable of being used in Israel’s action in Gaza.
Recent government figures have revealed that the UK has issued more than 100 arms export licences to Israel between 7 October and 31 May. Last month, the UK government announced they had found no reason to suspend arms exports to Israel upon further review of the Israel Defense Force’s presence in Gaza. The latest government review examined the IDF’s behaviour until 24 April, including an Israeli airstrike that killed three British aid workers on 1 April.
The joint statement by the US, UK and Canada accuses Russia of “consistently” attempting to “influence, subvert, and undermine democratic elections in order to secure results favorable to the Kremlin.”
The three G7 nations are “stand firmly against persistent Kremlin attempts to use disinformation, criminal and covert activities, and corruption to undermine sovereignty and democratic processes,” the statement reads.
The Kremlin relies on lies, deceit, corruption and disinformation to undermine sovereignty and democracy. While democracy thrives on openness and truth-telling, authoritarianism and disinformation depend on secrecy and deception.
UK, US and Canada accuse Russia of interfering in Moldovan elections
Three countries at the G7 summit – the US, UK and Canada – have issued a joint statement claiming that Russia is interfering with Moldova’s October election.
The three countries warn that “Russian actors are carrying out a plot to influence outcomes of Moldova’s 2024 presidential election” and “intend to incite protests in Moldova should a pro-Russia candidate not win.”
The statement claims Russian actors are “spreading lies about the incumbent president’s character and intentions, and about supposed electoral irregularities” and intend to whip up protests.
The US, UK and Canada say they are working with Moldovan authorities and sanctioning those behind the attempted interference.
“By revealing the Kremlin’s plot, we are making it clear to Moscow that we stand for free and fair elections and will not tolerate its attempts to meddle and undermine democratic processes,” the statement says.
The breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria, which has Russian troops stationed in it, borders Ukraine.
Ukraine and Japan sign $4.5bn security agreement
Ukraine and Japan have signed a security agreement on the sidelines of the G7 summit, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has confirmed.
The Ukrainian leader had earlier said he would sign bilateral security agreements with Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, and US president Joe Biden.
Under the “unique” agreement, Japan has agreed to provide Ukraine with $4.5bn and will “continue to support us throughout the agreement’s entire 10-year term”, Zelenskiy said.
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida @kishida230 and I have just signed a security agreement between Ukraine and Japan. A unique document with one of the world’s most economically and technologically advanced countries. 🇺🇦🇯🇵
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 13, 2024
In 2024, Japan will provide Ukraine with $4.5 billion…
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Patrick Wintour, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, is in Puglia
Britain has been urged to lead in persuading their fellow G7 leaders to insert some badly needed reality into the search for a two state solution by providing funding to rescue the process of civilian society reconciliation in Israel and Palestine.
Britain has been seen as the country most likely to push an agenda that is seen as critical if support for a two state solution is not to erode in both communities. The call, originally tabled by the Alliance for Middle East Peace (Allmep) has been backed by Pope Francis and more than 360 NGOs. The Pope is due to attend the G7 summit on Friday.
G7 leaders on Wednesday discussed the Middle East for over two hours in the company of Jordanian leaders, but neither the Emirati leader Mohammed bin Zayed or the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the end joined.
The meeting was held against the backdrop of Israeli-Hamas peace talks hanging by a thread and a dangerous upsurge in violence in northern Israel caused by what Hezbollah described as its largest attack on Israel since the conflict broke out in October.
There has been no mention of the Palestinian conflict in four of the last five G7 communiques, even though there has been references in all previous communiques from 2000 to 2017. The current commmunique is certain to back the latest peace plan outlined by the US President Joe Biden, and will place the onus on Hamas to accept the deal.
Allmep’s executive director John Lyndon said “If a renewed diplomatic process is to succeed where all its predecessors have failed, then it must be very different to what has come before. Civil society must be put at the core of any strategy, rather than at the margins – as an afterthought or absent altogether. The requirement now is that the G7 communique highlights the role of civil society, or else there is no realistic path to peace.”
Here is an indication of some of the security precautions being taken in Brindisi where G7 leaders are scheduled to have dinner with Italy’s president tonight.
The social media account of India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has shown him departing to head to the G7 summit.
PM @narendramodi emplanes for Italy, where he will attend the G7 Summit. pic.twitter.com/JnWcQzfY7R
— narendramodi_in (@narendramodi_in) June 13, 2024
Russia: 'painful' response for EU if it uses frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that attempts by the west to take the income from frozen Russian assets was criminal and would lead to a response from Moscow that would be very painful for the European Union.
Earlier Reuters reported that a senior US official had told it the G7 has reached agreement on using frozen Russian assets to fund a $50bn loan to Ukraine to support budget, military, reconstruction, humanitarian purposes.
Draft G7 communique to support US Gaza ceasefire plan and express concern about conflict bordering Israel and Lebanon
G7 leaders are very concerned by the situation in northern Israel and southern Lebanon, and endorse US efforts to secure a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to a draft communique due to be released after this week’s G7 summit.
Reuters reports the statement is expected to add that western leaders reiterate their commitment to a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace, side-by-side.
In addition, they are expected called on Israel to refrain from a full-scale offensive in Rafah, “in line with their obligations under international law”.
Israel and anti-Israeli forces including Hezbollah have exchanged near constant fire across the UN-drawn blue line that separates Israel and Lebanon. Tens of thousands of people in southern Lebanon and northern Israel have been displaced from their homes
G7 reaches agreement on $50bn loan to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets – reports
Reuters reports a senior US official has told it the G7 has reached agreement on using frozen Russian assets to fund a $50bn loan to support budget, military, reconstruction, humanitarian purposes.
More details soon …
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that the West was escalating the conflict in Ukraine by encouraging Kyiv to strike deep into Russia.
In a message posted to her Telegram channel, Zakharova said:
Do the EU countries understand that Washington is dragging them into a direct clash with Russia under the Nato flag? The hysterical pumping of the western public with the thesis about Russia’s supposed “imminent aggression against western countries” means only one thing – the Biden administration needs even more bloodletting on the European continent to keep both its own government and the American economy from collapsing.
Ukraine’s president Volodymr Zelenskiy has arrived at the G7 summit and has been greeted by Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
Russian diplomats and their families should be denied free movement rights around the EU to protect the bloc against propaganda and sabotage, eight foreign ministers have written.
In a letter to the EU’s high representative for foreign policy, Josep Borrell, foreign ministers from eight EU member states call for an end to free movement rights for Russian diplomats, saying it makes “malign activities” easier.
The letter states:
Intelligence, propaganda or even preparation of sabotage acts are the main workload for a large number of Russian “diplomats” in the EU. A huge blow to Russian intelligence presence done through a wave of expulsions in recent years was crucial. However, the threat persists as the continuation of the need to expel Russian embassy staff from various EU countries demonstrates.
Russian diplomats and their families, instead, should be restricted to the state of their accreditation, the ministers say, adding:
This measure will significantly narrow operational space for Russian agents.
The letter has been signed by the foreign ministers of the Baltic States, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, the Netherlands and Denmark.
The signatories argue the restriction would not violate the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, arguing that free movement “is not a diplomatic privilege but a collateral benefit”.
The Schengen area covers most EU member states, plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
Away from the G7 summit, Germany and Denmark have signed a letter of intent to strengthen their military cooperation in the face of what they perceive as an increasing Russian hostility.
Denmark is supporting Germany’s initiative to supply Ukraine with air defences with €125m (£105m/$135m), Reuters reports.
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UK announces new Russia sanctions targeting Putin's 'shadow fleet'
The UK has announced it will target ships in Vladimir Putin’s shadow fleet with new sanctions to support Ukraine as part of co-ordinated action with G7 partners.
Rishi Sunak has also announced another £242m in bilateral funding for Ukraine as he meets his counterparts from Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United States at the G7 summit in Puglia.
The 50 new sanctions are the UK’s first to target vessels in Putin’s shadow fleet, which Russia uses to circumvent UK and G7 sanctions to trade in Russian oil, PA Media reports Downing Street as saying.
Suppliers of munitions, machine tools and logistics based in China, Israel, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey that support Russia’s military production are also among those sanctioned, Downing Street said.
The sanctions also take aim at the Moscow Stock Exchange and other institutions at the heart of Russia’s financial system. The US designated the Moscow Stock Exchange on 12 June.
“The UK will always stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in its fight for freedom,” said Sunak. “Today we are once more ramping up economic pressure through sanctions to bear down on Russia’s ability to fund its war machine. Putin must lose, and cutting off his ability to fund a prolonged conflict is absolutely vital.”
Sunak has also committed to providing £242m to Ukraine for the immediate humanitarian, energy and stabilisation needs and to lay the foundations for longer term economic and social recovery and reconstruction.
He and other G7 leaders are also seeking to agree on a mechanism that will allow profits stemming from immobilised Russian sovereign assets to be used to support Ukraine. Some $285bn (£222bn) worth of immobilised Russian assets are held in G7 jurisdictions.
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Kate Connolly reports for the Guardian from Berlin
Ahead of the G7 summit, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko expressed his hope that the result of the European elections on Sunday, in which parties which oppose military support for Ukraine and back a friendlier approach towards Moscow gained ground, would not undermine the effort to aid his country.
“The risk is there, and life is divided,” he told the Guardian after addressing the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin. “Right now the world is black and white for many people – right now you are either for the war or against the war. Right now you are for democracy or for authoritarianism. Which is all the more reason why we have to defend our values, our democratic values, fight for our mission,” he said.
The former heavyweight boxing champion who has been mayor of the Ukrainian capital since 2014, said the fight for Ukraine was integral to the fight for democracy.
“We have to save the future of democratic Europe. Ukraine is an important part of Europe, even as Putin says: no, it’s part of the Russian Empire, that’s why our fight is also a European fight, a fight for European values, and the success of Ukraine will be a success for all of Europe.”
Klitschko, surrounded by many Ukrainians and other participants seeking a selfie with him, after holding a discussion with other mayors from across Europe, said the desire for peace harboured by Ukrainians was no different to the desire expressed by many who went to the polls calling for an end to the war.
“The next task for the European parliament has to be to bring peace back to Europe, which is the main wish not just in Ukraine, but everywhere in Europe,” he said.
His wish for the G7 summit and this weekend’s international peace summit “Peace in Ukraine” in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, was for “a more proactive position to be taken by many countries, and unity in their approach on Ukraine, because this is the key to peace and freedom.”
He said the reconstruction and recovery of Ukraine, which had been the focus of the Berlin conference, were “important questions,” but added: “however, my main priority right now is to stop the war.”
“We need political support, we need military support, we need to save our country”.
Klitschko also expressed his disdain towards members of the far-right populist AfD party and MPs from the far-left bloc of Sahra Wagenknecht’s BSW, who boycotted a speech to the Bundestag by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier this week, calling him a “war president” who was unwilling to negotiate peace. “It is a slur against all Ukrainians that they deliberately kept their distance,” Klitschko said.
Meloni: G7 summit to bring 'concrete and measurable results' on Ukraine, Middle East, AI and migration
The G7 has issued a video clip of Giorgia Meloni’s opening address, in which she said she believed that the next two days would bring “concrete and measurable results”.
She told the other G7 leaders “The G7 is not a self-enclosed fortress, which needs to defend itself against others. It is a container of values, and we want to open to the world in order to have shared development and growth as our goal.”
Highlighting what is on the agenda for the summit, Meloni said:
We’re talking about the current crises, Ukraine and Middle East, and we’ll also build on what the Japanese presidency did in order to guarantee that we have solid supplies.
Responding also to one of the major challenges of our times, generative AI and clearly the need to make use of its opportunities and governance risks. And also give greater attention to the Indo-Pacific region.
The Italian presidency also decided to give special attention to another continent which is fundamental to the future, which is Africa with its opportunities. And this requires a different approach than we’ve shown in the past. Often, Africa is linked to another issue – not just Africa – which is the issue of migration and the worrying dimension of smuggling and trafficking organisations.
President Giorgia Meloni's opening remarks during the first session of the #G7 Summit in Borgo Egnazia. #G7Italy pic.twitter.com/XD5I0Y5dZ2
— G7 Italy (@G7) June 13, 2024
Countries supporting Ukraine must speed up their decision making, outgoing Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said on Thursday, Reuters reports.
Rutte, a leading candidate to become Nato’s next secretary general, was speaking at a conference in Finland.
Earlier, Finnish president Alexander Stubb told a press conference Rutte will likely become Nato’s next secretary general. Last year the current secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, was persuaded to extend his term until October 2024 due to ongoing impact of the war in Ukraine.
We mentioned earlier that while she was left waiting for US president Joe Biden to arrive, Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni took a selfie of herself showing the press pack who were watching the arrivals of the G7 leaders. The selfie has just appeared on the news wires.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, has said this week’s G7 is about showing unity. She said in a message posted to social media:
In turbulent times the strongest message we can send is unity. Today the G7 in Bari will show unity. Unity for Ukraine’s freedom. We work on further financial support. Unity for a peaceful and stable Middle East and the three-phase plan. Unity on a free and open Indo-Pacific.
In turbulent times the strongest message we can send is unity.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) June 13, 2024
Today the G7 in Bari will show unity.
Unity for Ukraine's freedom. We work on further financial support.
Unity for a peaceful and stable Middle East and the three-phase plan.
Unity on a free and open Indo-Pacific. pic.twitter.com/vCszrXfC3F
Kate Connolly reports for the Guardian from Berlin
The Ukraine Recovery Conference has just concluded in Berlin, where the main focus was on how to raise money for short and long-term reconstruction, even as the country remains under vicious attack, with many participants acknowledging that “Ukraine Resilience” would right now be a more fitting title. On the sidelines, Tymur Pistriuha, head of the NGO Ukrainian Deminers Association, spoke to the Guardian about the urgent, ongoing need to put de-mining at the centre of any talk of recovery.
“As our deputy prime minister (and minister of economic development and trade) Yulia Svyrydenko has pointed out, without humanitarian de-mining, so-called mine action, recovery cannot happen. It’s good that this is understood, but it has not been as prominent on the agenda here in Berlin as much as in the past, and it’s the absolute starting point for any recovery and reconstruction. We need to scale up,” he said.
At the previous recovery conference in London last year the issue was more widely discussed, Pistriuha said. Currently 144,000 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory counts as potentially dangerous due to landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), and requires urgent intervention.
The speed with which this is happening has improved over time. Pistriuha pointed out that around six months ago the affected area was 174,000 square kilometres. “We’ve already released 30,000 square kilometres,” he said – referring to the term according to which land is deemed safe, after being inspected and cleared of UXO – “which is like the size of the territory of Albania.
“It’s tremendous, but the scale of the problem is still huge.”
The day to day impact of this he said, is measured by the “crucial statistic” of human victims. Officially, there have been around 1000 victims – both killings and injuries – from mine and explosive ordnance, since the start of the full-blown invasion in 2022. But according to the Ukrainian Demining Association’s own database, the real figure is far higher, at about 2,500, due to underreporting, and a lack of access to some areas.
The problem greatly affects everything from Ukrainian agriculture to critical infrastructure, spanning “everything from the energy sector to the forest to underwater areas,” Pistriuha said.
He recently took part in a mine action symposium in Croatia – itself still affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war as a legacy of the conflict there in the early 90s – and in October a donor conference to raise funds for demining activities in Ukraine will take place in Lausanne. “So it is on the agenda,” he said.
One of the most crucial strands of his association’s work is explosive ordnance risk education. “I have 60 mobile teams travelling throughout Ukraine to provide face to face instruction sessions. But Ukraine is a huge country and it’s not enough.”
Georgia Meloni’s social media account has posted to reiterate that the location of the G7 summit, Puglia, was a deliberate choice. She said:
We did it because Puglia is a region of southern Italy and the message we want to give is of a G7 who under the Italian presidency wants strengthen its dialogue with the nations of the global south.
We did it because this land is historically a bridge between West and East, it is a land of dialogue at the centre of the Mediterranean, of that middle sea that connects the two great maritime spaces of the globe, the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific.
L'Italia ha scelto di ospitare il summit dei leader in Puglia, non è stata una scelta casuale: lo abbiamo fatto perché la Puglia è una regione del Sud Italia e il messaggio che vogliamo dare è di un #G7 che sotto presidenza italiana vuole rafforzare il suo dialogo con le Nazioni… pic.twitter.com/YaAD6sV1iP
— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) June 13, 2024
Italy accused of scrapping safe abortion guarantee from G7 declaration
Angela Giuffrida in Rome and Ashifa Kassamin Madrid report for the Guardian
Giorgia Meloni’s government has been accused of scrapping a reference guaranteeing access to “safe and legal” abortions in the text of the G7 summit’s final declaration.
Citing sources from G7 member delegations, the Italian media reported on Thursday that a sidebar clause on abortion rights had been left out of a last draft of the final declaration circulated on Wednesday.
The clause, pushed especially by France and Canada, had been intended to reinforce an agreement by the G7 members in Japan last year that they would guarantee “effective and safe access to abortion”.
It also committed to sexual and reproductive health rights for all, “including by addressing access to safe and legal abortion and post-abortion care”.
Sources in Meloni’s office denied the reference had been removed, telling Ansa news agency the declaration was still being negotiated and that “everything that will be included in the final document will be final points resulting from the negotiations”.
Antonio Tajani, the deputy prime minister, told Sky TG24: “The various delegations are in talks, and it is premature to make an analysis and useless to make predictions. We will see what the agreement will be.” He emphasised that while abortion would be discussed at the G7, Ukraine and the Middle East were priorities.
A source close to the negotiations told AFP that since 2021 there had “been a mention of ‘safe access’”, but “Meloni doesn’t want it”.
Read more of Angela Giuffrida and Ashifa Kassam’s report here: Italy accused of scrapping safe abortion guarantee from G7 declaration
Here are some more images issued from inside the room where the G7 summit meeting is taking place.
Patrick Wintour is in Puglia for the Guardian
Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskiy will sign a 10 year bilateral security agreement on behalf of their two countries at the G7 summit as arguments continued on the sidelines about how the West is to deliver on its plan to provide a Trump-proof $50bn loan to the Ukrainian government.
The bilateral security agreement is the 16th such bilateral security agreements that Ukraine has signed, and will help to speed the modernisation of the Ukrainian army. Ukraine had hoped for more than two years that the US would be the first to sign, but in the end the talks took more than a year, and the US is now the last of the G7 countries along with Japan to sign.
The agreement is not a treaty that requires the authorisation of Congress and could be undone by a future Trump administration. Biden has previously said the gauarantees for Ukraine are equivalent to those enjoyed by Israel, so covering financial and military assistance, as well as the possibility of the joint production of weapons
The two leaders will to stage a press conference to hail the agreement where differences over a timetable for Ukraine’s bid to join Nato, and the introduction of foreign military trainers inside Ukraine are likely to be on view. The bilateral agreements have also been viewed Ukraine as a stopgap before joining Nato.
Updated
Here are some pictures of Joe Biden’s arrival at the G7, and an image that has been issued from the room where the leaders are having discussion.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has been speaking to the media at the sidelines of the G7 summit, Reuters reports, and he said that during discussions today Joe Biden will encourage other nations to support ceasefire negotiations trying to end fighting in Gaza.
Sullivan said Hamas had submitted an amended proposal with some minor changes that could be worked out, as well as others that were not in line with what Biden had laid out or that had been embraced by the UN security council.
“Our goal is to figure out how we bridge the remaining gaps and get to a deal,” he said, adding that discussions would continue with Qatar and Egypt, who, in turn, would work with Hamas to reach agreement as quickly as possible.
Here is the group shot from the G7 summit, from left-right: Charles Michel, Olaf Scholz, Justin Trudeau, Emmanuel Macron, Giorgia Meloni, Joe Biden, Fumio Kishida, Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen.
In the group photo lineup Meloni is flanked by Macron and Biden. The attendees have now gone indoors.
After a short delay, US president Joe Biden has arrived at the G7 summit. While she was waiting for him, at one point Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni posed for her own selfie in front of the media. The G7 leaders are now gathering for a group photo.
Japan’s prime minister Fumio Kishida, Canada’s Justin Trudeau and French president Emmanuel Macron have all arrived, and the news wires are beginning to carry pictures of the leaders being greeted by Giorgia Meloni.
Updated
As the leaders began to gather at the G7 summit, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has issued a lengthy message on social media ahead of today’s discussions. In it, he said:
For us, the main issues are developing fighter jet coalition, expediting pilot training, and accelerating aircraft delivery. Development of the Ukrainian air defense system based on the most powerful western systems, as well as an increase in long-range capability.
Bilateral security agreements will be signed during meetings with US President Joe Biden and Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida. The document with the United States will be unprecedented, as it should be for leaders who support Ukraine.
The entire Ukrainian people, including our warriors, see that the G7 will always support Ukraine. I am grateful to our partners for their belief in us and our victory.
Today is the G7 Summit in Italy, a meeting of our closest partners. Much of it will be dedicated to Ukraine, our defense, and economic resilience. And we look forward to important decisions today.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 13, 2024
For us, the main issues are developing fighter jet coalition, expediting pilot…
The first arrivals have been Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel representing the European Union, prime minister Rishi Sunak of the UK, and Olaf Scholz, chancellor of Germany.
Here is a picture of Giorgia Meloni’s arrival at the G7 summit.
While we wait for other G7 leaders to arrive, Reuters is carrying a quick snap that Ukraine and Japan are expected to sign a security agreement later today. At the same time Reuters reports Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Thursday he welcomed a sweeping new set of US sanctions imposed on Russia and praised the measures taken against its defence industrial base.
Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni has just arrived at the venue.
This is the scene at the Borgo Egnazia resort as G7 leaders are scheduled to begin arriving.
Patrick Wintour is in Puglia for the Guardian, and overnight he had this curtain raiser
A dramatic expansion of entities exposed to US sanctions for helping the Russian economy and an EU-led $50bn loan to ease the financial burden on Ukraine will be at the centre of discussions at a summit of the leaders of wealthy G7 nations in Puglia, Italy, starting on Thursday.
The leaders, facing unprecedented challenges from discontented electorates, will be under heightened pressure to provide concrete results as their three days of discussion range across an interlinked agenda encompassing the war in Ukraine, migration, Africa, the Middle East, the climate crisis and harnessing artificial intelligence (AI).
The G7 was once a cloistering of western leaders in informal conversation, but host countries can invite outside guests to join some of the sessions. Italy has thrown open the doors and will welcome Pope Francis; Javier Milei, the populist president of Argentina; Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister; and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will stage a joint press conference with the US president, Joe Biden. The aim is to show the west remains determined to confront Russia’s “arsenal of autocracy”, but is not preoccupied with its own problems.
The meeting is also billed by the US state department as the best opportunity to ease Ukraine’s financial burdens before the US’s presidential elections in November and send a message to Russia of western stamina. As much as feasible the G7 would like its decisions to be Trump-proof.
Read more of Patrick Wintour’s article here: G7 leaders head to Italy for summit as Ukraine and Russia top the agenda
As well as the G7 summit in Italy today, there is also a high profile meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, hosted by the US at Nato’s Headquarters in Brussels.
Going into the event secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said members are set to take tougher action against Russian spies across the alliance in response to a campaign of hostile activities by Moscow that includes acts of sabotage and cyberattacks.
“We have seen several examples of sabotage, of arson attempts, of cyber attacks, of disinformation,” he told reporters, adding Nato defence ministers meeting in Brussels later in the day would “address the Russian campaign of hostile activities.”
Good progress has been made on international efforts to unlock the value of frozen Russian assets to help fund Ukraine, Reuters reports US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday, adding he hoped for agreement by the time G7 leaders meet.
He said G7 leaders were more unified than ever on major issues, including Chinese industrial overcapacity
Overnight Angela Giuffrida in Rome teed up the event for us with a look at what it means for Giorgia Meloni:
When Giorgia Meloni met Joe Biden at the White House in March, he played Ray Charles’s Georgia on My Mind as she entered the room. “We have each other’s backs,” he later told reporters, before planting a tender kiss on her forehead as the meeting wrapped up.
The cosy get-together was the clearest sign yet that the Italian prime minister, a chameleon of a communicator, had been able to cultivate warm relations with the US president, who had previously expressed concerns about her Brothers of Italy party’s neofascist history.
As Europe reels from the far-right’s advances in the European parliamentary elections, the pair will reunite among the olive trees of a secluded resort in the southern Italian region of Puglia on Thursday, when Italy hosts the G7 summit. It is an event Meloni intends to use to burnish her image on the international scene, even as her government draws criticism at home for its hardline approach on numerous issues.
Read more of Angela Giuffrida’s piece here: ‘All eyes are on her’: Italy’s far-right chameleon, Giorgia Meloni, prepares to host the G7
Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister, set out the countries aims for their year holding the presidency of the G7 and hosting the summit in a promo video.
In it she said the G7 had “taken on an irreplaceable role in defending freedom and democracy and managing global challenges.”
She continued:
Italy has taken on this historic responsibility at a particularly complex time. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has challenged the international system based on the rule of law. And the violation of those principles holding the international community together is triggering hotbeds of conflict in various parts of the world.
We will return reiterate our support for Ukraine and we will continue to work towards an end to a war and to achieve a just and lasting peace. We will also address the conflict in the Middle East, and other crisis on the agenda over the course of the year.
We will focus on relations with developing nations and emerging economies, paying particular attention to Africa. We have set ourselves the goal of building an equal cooperation model that rejects a predatory approach and is able to offer benefits for all. That is also why we will be paying great attention to migration issues, the climate-energy nexus and food security.
The Italian presidency will also focus on a challenge that many consider to be the most decisive of our time: artificial intelligence. This technology can create great opportunities, but also huge risks and affect global balances. We are committed to developing governance mechanisms and ensuring that artificial intelligence is both human centred and human controlled.
Here is a glimpse at the press centre that has been set up for the G7 summit in Bari.
What's happening today?
The agenda for today’s summit features Italy’s president of the council of ministers Giorgia Meloni greeting delegation leaders from 10.30am local time (9.30am BST / 4.30am EDT). There will then be the traditional opening family photo of the delegation leaders.
The discussion sessions set for today are about:
Africa, climate change and development
Middle East (with working lunch)
Ukraine (G7 + Ukraine format)
Ukraine (G7 format)
There will also be an evening flag ceremony and photo opportunity.
Tomorrow’s sessions include discussion on migration, AI, energy, and the Indo-Pacific and economic security.
Updated
Welcome and opening summary
It is 9am in Borgo Egnazia in the Puglia region, Italy’s south. Welcome to our live coverage of this year’s G7 summit. I am Martin Belam and I’ll be with you for the next while.
G7 leaders are gathering for the first day the summit, hosted by Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and are seeking to seal a deal on using frozen Russian assets to help war-torn Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will join US President Joe Biden and leaders from Italy, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan at the luxury Borgo Egnazia resort in Puglia.
The leaders are hoping to agree on a $50bn loan for Kyiv, secured against the future profits from interest on 300bn euros ($325bn) of Russian central bank assets frozen after the February 2022 invasion, reports Agence France-Presse.
The European Union – where most of the funds are being held – agreed earlier this year to use the profits for Ukraine.
But the idea at the G7 is to use this to provide more, faster help in the form of a massive upfront loan – although key questions such as who issues the debt and who shares the risk are still being hammered out.
The G7 summit opens Thursday morning with a short session on Africa, development and climate change, before turning to the Middle East.
The leaders have already announced their support for a Gaza truce deal outlined by Biden, which would also see the release of hostages taken in Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel.
The G7 comprises the United States, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Britain. Russia was suspended from the then-styled G8 indefinitely from 2014 after it unilaterally annexed Crimea.
The European Union participates in all discussions and is represented by the presidents of both the European Council and the European Commission.
The host country traditionally invites outside guests to join some of the sessions. Among those invited are Pope Francis, the King of Jordan as well as the leaders of Ukraine, India, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Algeria, Tunisia and Mauritania, which holds the presidency of the African Union.
More on that in a moment but first, here’s a summary of the latest developments:
A dramatic expansion of entities exposed to US sanctions for helping the Russian economy will also be at the centre of discussions.
The meeting is being billed by the US state department as an opportunity to send a message to Russia of western stamina; the G7 would also like to “Trump-proof” its decisions as much as possible ahead of the US election in November.
The British prime minister Rishi Sunak will announce up to 242m pounds ($309.69m) in bilateral assistance to Ukraine in the G7 summit, his office said on Wednesday, to support immediate humanitarian, energy and stabilisation needs for Ukraine. “We must be decisive and creative in our efforts to support Ukraine and end Putin’s illegal war at this critical moment,” Sunak said ahead of the summit.
The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has apologised for not attending the G7 Summit in Italy according to the state news agency. Zelenskiy said on Wednesday he had held “productive and energetic” talks with the Crown Prince focusing on this week’s “Peace Summit” in Switzerland and improving bilateral ties.
On the first evening, the leaders will attend a dinner in their honour in the nearby city of Brindisi. The media centre is in the city of Bari, 80 km (50 miles) from the summit venue.
The Borgo Egnazia resort, where the summit is being held, Angela Giuffrida writes, is frequented by celebrities such as Madonna and David Beckham: “With its stone villas, replete with almond-filled baskets, and narrow, winding alleys, the resort, which opened in 2010, is modelled on an ancient Puglian village … However, one detail of history the brochures fail to mention is that the land on which the resort stands was razed during Benito Mussolini’s fascist rule to build an airbase.”
China will be discussed at length, reports Reuters. The leaders are likely to issue a statement expressing concern on Chinese industrial overcapacity, particularly in green energy and technology sectors such as solar panels and electric vehicles.
The US, EU and Japan have all voiced concern that generous subsidies from Beijing are resulting in a flood of cheap goods hitting the global market, threatening western firms, and will also look at the possibility of imposing additional measures to level the field with heavily subsidised Chinese companies.
The G7 leaders are likely to express their resolve in addressing the heavy debt burden faced by many emerging market and developing countries, says Reuters, but it is not clear what this commitment will mean in real terms.
Italy is still pushing for an accord on a global minimum tax on multinationals, even if it said last month that a deal would not be finalised by June as previously planned.
Many G7 countries are also in political flux, reports Agence France-Presse. Everyone in Puglia is aware this could be Biden’s last G7 summit if he loses to Donald Trump in November US elections. Britain’s Rishi Sunak is tipped to be ousted in July 4 elections, while France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz are both under pressure after gains by the far right in EU elections last weekend.
