HIROSHIMA, Japan: Leaders of the world’s most powerful democracies – Group of Seven (G7) – Saturday warned China and North Korea against building up their nuclear arsenals, pivoting to major northeast Asian crises ahead of the arrival later Saturday of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
G7 leaders issued a statement warning that China’s “accelerating build-up of its nuclear arsenal without transparency (or) meaningful dialogue poses a concern to global and regional stability”. The focus on Asia at the G7 summit comes as leaders tighten sanctions meant to punish Russia and change the course of its 15-month long invasion of Ukraine.
Japan said that Zelensky’s decision to attend the G7 summit in person stemmed from his “strong wish” to take part in talks that will influence his nation’s defence against Russia.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said President Joe Biden and Zelensky would have direct engagement at the summit, a day after Biden announced his consent for training Ukrainian pilots on US-made F-16 fighter jets, a precursor to eventually providing the F-16 jets to Ukraine’s Air Force.
World leaders have faced a high-stakes balancing act in Hiroshima, Japan as they look to address a raft of global worries demanding urgent attention, including Artificial Intelligence, poverty, climate change, nuclear proliferation, economic instability and above all, the war in Ukraine.
North Korea, which has been testing missiles at a torrid pace in an attempt to perfect a nuclear programme meant to target the mainland US, must completely abandon its nuclear ambitions, the leaders said.
North Korea cannot and will never have the status of a nuclear-weapon State under” international nuclear treaties, the statement read.
The green signal on F-16 training is the latest shift by the Joe Biden administration as it moves to equip Ukraine with more advanced and lethal weaponry, following earlier decisions to send Abrams tanks and rocket launcher systems.
The US has insisted that it is sending weapons to Ukraine so that it could defend itself and has discouraged attacks by Ukraine forces into Russian territory. “We’ve reached a moment where it is time to look down the road again to say what is Ukraine going to need as part of a future force, to be able to deter and defend against Russian aggression as we go forward,” Sullivan said.
According to a EU official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Zelensky will take part in two separate sessions on Sunday. The first session will be with G7 members only and will focus on the Ukraine war. The second session will include the G7 and the other nations invited to the summit, and will focus on “peace and stability.”
The G7 leaders further said in a statement released after closed-door meetings that, “Our support for Ukraine will not waver”. They vowed “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.
Zelensky has consistently called for the supply of Western fighter jets to bolster his country’s defence against Russian invasion, but has until now faced skepticism from the US that they would turn the tide in the war.
Now, as Ukraine has improved its air defences with a host of anti-aircraft systems supplied by the Western and prepares to launch a counteroffensive against Russia, officials believe the F-16 jets could become useful in the battle and essential to the country’s long-term security.
President Biden told the leaders that decisions on when, how many, and who will provide the fourth-generation F-16 fighter jets will be made in the months to come while, he added, the training was underway.
The F-16 training is will likely begin in the coming weeks in Europe, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Biden’s private conversations with allies.
The latest sanctions against Russia include tighter restrictions on already-sanctioned people and firms involved in the war effort. More than 125 individuals and organizations across 20 countries worldwide have been hit with United States sanctions.
World leaders Friday visited a peace park dedicated to the tens of thousands of people who died in the world’s first wartime atomic bomb detonation. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who represents Hiroshima in parliament, wants nuclear disarmament to be a major focus of discussions.
As G7 attendees headed to Hiroshima, Russia unleashed yet another aerial attack on the Ukraine capital. The G7 leaders are also to discuss efforts to strengthen the global economy and address inflation that are squeezing families and government budgets around the world, particularly in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
G7 includes …
The G7 includes Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada and Italy, as well as the European Union.
