On Saturday, Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky landed in Hiroshima on a French plane to join the G7 summit that will last until Sunday. A large motorcade accompanied the Ukrainian president as he reached Hiroshima.
The G7 is a group of the world’s leading advanced economies, comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US.
G7 stance on Russia
On Friday, the G7 leaders agreed to impose more sanctions on Russia in a display of support for Ukraine. The leaders declared “to stand united against Russia’s unlawful, unwarranted, and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.”
The G7 countries have adopted a common position on Russia over its aggression in Ukraine. In 2014, Russia’s takeover of Crimea and its role in the war in Eastern Ukraine led to its expulsion from the former G8, which became the G7. The G7 countries denounced Russia’s actions as a breach of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The G7 has kept a strong stance on Russia since then. The group has repeatedly voiced concerns over Russia’s actions in areas such as Ukraine, its disruptive activities in other countries, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and human rights issues.
G7 nations in a joint statement said the countries are “imposing more sanctions and measures to raise the costs to Russia and those who are backing its war effort” to “cripple Russia’s war machine.”
“We are also building on the success of our efforts to ensure that Russia can no longer use the availability of energy as a weapon against us and against the world,” the statement added.
UK PM Rishi Sunak tweeted that ensuring Ukraine wins is the most important thing the leaders can do for global peace and security. “We are banning all imports of Russian diamonds, copper, aluminum and nickel. Sanctions are clearly affecting Putin’s war effort. The G7 stands with Ukraine,” he tweeted.