Ukraine’s Zelensky to attend G7 summit in Japan in person

According to people familiar with the plans, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to attend the annual G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in person. But it’s not yet confirmed which day he will attend.

While Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday Zelensky will attend the leaders’ meeting on Sunday virtually, the Ukrainian leader is now all set to come to Hiroshima for the event. The Financial Times was the first to break the news of Zelensky’s noteworthy visit.

Just like the previous year, the Russian invasion of Ukraine will be dominating the summit’s agenda this year as well. A fresh set of sanctions on Russia have already been announced, including the UK’s plans to ban Russian diamond imports.

The US will also be announcing new sanctions on Russia at the summit, hoping other G7 members to increase theirs as well.

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The new measures are aimed at weakening Russia’s “war machine” in Ukraine, and include banning 70 entities from receiving US exports and another 300 fresh sanctions on individuals or entities. The war in Ukraine is now in its 15th month.

In addition to the invasion, several other issues are also expected to draw the spotlight at the summit, including climate change, food security, nuclear disarmament, the global economy, and a “free and open Indo-Pacific”.

The G7 (Group of Seven) includes France, Italy, Germany, Canada, Japan, the UK, and the US. Although the EU is not a member of the organisation, it attends the annual summit each year.

This year, the host country Japan has expanded the invite list to include India, Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam, South Korea, Australia, Comoros (representing the African Union), and the Cook Islands (representing the Pacific Islands Forum).

But since many of the additional guests have complex relations with both Russia and China, will they make addressing the issues on the agenda more difficult?