Last updated: 3 hours ago
image source,Archyde.com
G7 leaders meet in Germany.
On the occasion of the G7, the Ukrainian capital Kyiv was again attacked by at least 14 missiles and a huge explosion occurred.
The BBC’s Sophie Williams in Kyiv reported that one person was killed and several wounded after a missile attack on an apartment building in Kyiv, according to a spokesman for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. It was also the first attack on Kyiv in weeks and coincided with a summit of the G7 group in Germany.
The mayor of Kyiv said the attack was carried out by Russia to intimidate Ukraine ahead of an international summit.
image source,EPA
Kyiv attacked building
The Ukraine issue is one of the main topics discussed at the G7 summit. The president of the European Council said the leaders of the G7 countries had a common goal to “cut off the oxygen supply to the Russian war machine”.
U.S. President Joe Biden said the G7 and NATO must unite against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
After weeks of fierce fighting, Russia announced Saturday (25th) that it has completely occupied the eastern Ukrainian town of Severodonetsk.
Ukraine, China become the main focus of the summit
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At the same time, leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) consisting of major advanced economies gathered today (26th) in the Bavarian Alps, Germany, for a three-day summit. The crisis between Russia and Ukraine is an important topic of this summit, and discussions on China are also on the agenda.
U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to launch an initiative on global infrastructure at this G7 summit to unite countries against China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The White House said on Saturday that the Group of Seven nations will also discuss what they see as China’s use of forced labor and intellectual property theft, according to Archyde.com.
The G7 summit was held in the shadow of the war between Russia and Ukraine. The effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the new crown epidemic are superimposed, and many countries are worried that energy shortages and food supply crises will continue. China’s ability as a world power to help ease the crisis has been in the spotlight, but the country’s move closer to Russia is also worrying many countries. How G7 leaders will discuss these issues has become a major focus.
The G7, which includes the UK, US, Canada, Japan, France, Germany and Italy, unites the power of key democracies from North America, Europe and Asia.
After the G7 summit, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will hold a summit in Madrid, Spain from the 29th to the 30th, inviting leaders from Asia-Pacific countries such as Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand for the first time. The NATO summit is expected to produce a new NATO strategic concept document, which mentions the challenges posed by China for the first time.
Biden’s new initiative to counter “One Belt One Road”
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On June 25, on the eve of the G7 summit, US President Joe Biden arrived at the airport in Munich, Germany.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at a recent conference in Washington that Biden would launch a partnership covering global infrastructure, people’s health and digital infrastructure.
“We think this can be an alternative to what the Chinese have to offer — if you add what our G7 partners are going to do, it’s tens of billions of dollars, maybe thousands,” Sullivan said. One hundred million U.S. dollars.”
“We intend to make this one of the hallmarks of the Biden administration’s foreign policy for the remainder of his term,” Sullivan said, adding that the operation would rely on private sector funding and less direct U.S. government grants.
China’s official news agency Xinhua reported on the 25th that the real intention of the United States to launch this initiative is to “contain China and contain China’s development.” “The United States is trying to lure other countries, especially developing countries, to serve its own geopolitical purposes with an ’empty promise’ of economic aid.”
In a meeting with G7 leaders a year ago, President Biden urged them to support a plan to replace China in financing infrastructure projects around the world through the Belt and Road Initiative. The plan, dubbed “Build Back Better World,” has also been seen as a propaganda for Biden to overhaul the domestic economy.
Biden said this is a values-driven, high-standard and transparent financing mechanism that will provide support in four key areas: climate, health, digital technology and gender equality.
China launched the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013. China has been building large-scale infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges in Latin America, Africa and Asia for nearly a decade, gaining a foothold in countries desperate for financing but has also been criticized for gaining economic and political leverage in the process. concession.
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On the eve of the G7 summit, French President Emmanuel Macron (right) arrives at the airport in Munich, Germany, to review a guard of honor made up of traditional Bavarian rifles.
Support Ukraine again
At the G7 summit, leaders are expected to seek to maintain a united front in support of Ukraine.
The summit’s host, German Chancellor Scholz, said this week: “This summit will not only send a message that NATO and the G7 are more united than ever before, but also bring the world’s democracies together against Putin’s leadership. Imperialism, as they did in the fight against hunger and poverty.”
Archyde.com quoted a person familiar with the matter as saying that G7 members will agree to ban gold imports from Russia. G7 leaders are also expected to discuss options to deal with rising energy prices and alternatives to Russian oil and gas imports.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will pledge further financial support to Ukraine, including a £429 million guarantee for a World Bank loan. He will urge allies to continue supporting Kyiv against Moscow’s “barbaric practices”, saying now is not the time to abandon Ukraine.
image source,PA Medium
Johnson recently visited Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“In the face of Putin’s barbarism, the Ukrainian people put up a truly heroic resistance, and future generations will be awed and inspired…Ukraine can and will win. But they do,” Johnson said ahead of the G7 summit. Our support is needed. Now is not the time to abandon Ukraine.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will also address the G7 by video link. Ukraine is now urgently requesting more financial aid and, without further support, could run out of funds in the fall.
The G7 has stepped up pressure on Russia through a series of sanctions, including banning or phasing out imports of Russian oil.
The G7 was formed in 1975 as a platform for the richest nations to discuss OPEC’s oil embargo and other crises. Six years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia was accepted as a member of the Eighth Group of Nations, but its membership was suspended following the annexation of Crimea in 2014.