Hiroshima (Japan),).- The arrival today of the Ukrainian president, VOlodímir Zelenski, Hiroshima eclipsed the second day of the G7 summit in this Japanese cityfocused on addressing concerns about China in economic and territorial matters.
After days of speculation about his in-person attendance at the summit, ZElenski arrived in Japan aboard a French government plane that landed at the airport in this western Japanese city on Saturday around 3:30 p.m. local time (6:30 GMT), where a large diplomatic and security deployment was awaiting. .
It was initially planned that Zelensky would participate electronically in a closing session on Sunday focused on the international order, and where the Russian-Ukrainian conflict was going to be discussed, but his visit has caused a change in the agenda to discuss more extensively about it.
The Ukrainian president dedicated himself today to holding bilateral meetings with the leaders present in Hiroshima, the first of which was the Indian Narendra Modi, and it is expected that on Sunday he will visit the Atomic Bomb Museum and offer a speech from such a symbolic setting.
Zelensky also met with the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni -with whom he hugged-, and with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in an intense round of confrontations embedded in the busy summit schedule.
The arrival of the Kiev leader precipitated the publication a day ahead of schedule of the leaders’ declaration from Hiroshima, in which they once again reaffirmed their commitment to sustained support for Ukraine and called for a prompt resolution of the conflict.
CHINA AS MEDIATOR
To do this, the G7 leaders called on Beijing to intercede by putting pressure on the Kremlin to withdraw its troops from the neighboring country and put an end to the conflict it started.
“We urge China to put pressure on Russia to stop its military aggression and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops from Ukraine,” the leaders said in their statement.
They also called on China to support a “comprehensive, just and lasting” peace in Ukraine based on territorial integrity and the principles contained in the founding charter of the United Nations (UN).
Beijing has proposed a rather ambiguous peace plan that has won the support of Moscow because, although it defends the territorial integrity of the countries, it does not allude to the Russian annexation of four Ukrainian regions or the withdrawal of Russian troops from the country.
President Zelenski has presented his own peace plan, which sets as conditions for ending the war the complete restoration of the territorial integrity of his country and an international agreement with security guarantees for the future.
The G7 believes that peace must come about “in direct dialogue” with Ukraine.
THE TAIWAN STRAIT
Since the war broke out in Ukraine more than a year ago, international powers have expressed concern that a favorable campaign for Russia could be taken as an example by China in its territorial claims, including the island of Taiwan.
In their statement, the G7 leaders reiterated their concern about the escalation of tension around the self-governing island and called for “a peaceful resolution” for the global good.
“It is necessary to cooperate with China, given its role in the international community and the size of its economy, on global challenges, as well as areas of common interest,” said the leaders, who called for building “constructive and stable” relations. with Beijing without ceasing to convey your concerns to it.
REDUCE DEPENDENCE ON CHINA
China is one of the two central issues at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, where, in addition to geopolitical tensions, economic issues such as banking digitization or the reconfiguration of global supply chains were addressed, in light of the high dependence on some countries to purchase certain materials and components.
The world‘s second-largest economy is one of the world‘s largest exporters of certain key components, evidenced by supply problems following its tight lockdown of China during the covid-19 pandemic.
In this sense, the G7 showed its decision to reduce that dependency and bet on investment in their own economies.
This approach, the leaders pointed out, does not seek to “harm China” or “impede the progress and economic development” of the country, and they assured that “a growing China that plays by international rules would be in the global interest.” EFE
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