2023-05-18 04:59:49
G7: a summit focused on sanctions once morest Russia
G7 leaders arrive in Hiroshima on Thursday to discuss tougher sanctions on Russia and protection once morest “economic coercion” from China.
Hiroshima le 17 mai 2023.
AFP
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is due to host the leaders of the six other industrialized democracies of the group of seven for this summit from Friday to Sunday in this city marked by its nuclear destruction in 1945, today hosting many monuments for peace.
The leaders of the member countries of the G7 (United States, Japan, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Canada) will try to present a united front once morest Russia and China, but also on other strategic issues on which their interests are not always perfectly aligned.
Even before arriving in Japan, US President Joe Biden faced a political crisis over US debt, which forced him to cancel the next legs of his Asia-Pacific, Papua New Guinea and Australia tour. .
The invasion of Ukraine launched by Russia nearly 15 months ago will dominate the summit agenda, with “discussions on the state of the battlefield”, said US national security adviser Jake Sullivan. The United States and its allies have increased arms shipments to Ukraine, whose President Volodymyr Zelensky is to attend the summit via videoconference.
Nuclear disarmament
According to Jake Sullivan, the talks are expected to focus on tougher sanctions once morest Moscow, which led to a contraction in the Russian economy in the first quarter of 2023. The official said the leaders would discuss tackling the evasion of sanctions, which allows Russian President Vladimir Putin to continue funding his war effort.
Vladimir Putin’s repeated threats to turn the war in Ukraine into a nuclear conflict have been condemned without appeal by the leaders of the G7 and are seen by some observers as an attempt to shake the resolve of Europeans and Americans.
The planned visit of the leaders to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park should highlight these threats, where on August 6, 1945, the city was destroyed by the American atomic bomb killing 140,000 people.
Fumio Kishida, whose family is originally from Hiroshima and who himself is elected there, wishes to use this summit to encourage his guests, in particular the United Kingdom, France and the United States, which together have thousands of nuclear warheads, to commit to being transparent regarding their stockpiles and reducing their arsenals.
Numerous military and diplomatic leaders, including six former heads of state, also urged nuclear powers on Wednesday to set aside tensions and negotiate arms control measures. But in a context of heightened tensions with other nuclear powers such as Russia, North Korea and China, hopes for progress in this area during this G7 summit are slim.
“Economic coercion”
The G7 should also devote a large part of its discussions to China, and in particular to the means of protecting itself from possible economic blackmail from Beijing, by diversifying production and supply chains, while the Chinese government has shown a willingness to resort to trade barriers.
For Jake Sullivan, the leaders of the G7 should denounce this “economic coercion” and strive to overcome transatlantic differences on the position to adopt vis-à-vis China. But European countries, particularly France and Germany, are keen to ensure that eliminating risk does not mean cutting ties with China, one of the world’s biggest markets.
It is “not an anti-Chinese G7”, insisted the Elysée before the summit, wishing “a positive message” of cooperation “provided that we negotiate together”.
Japan has also invited eight third countries, including major emerging economies like India and Brazil, to Hiroshima in a bid to rally some reluctant leaders to oppose Russia’s war in Ukraine and rising military ambitions. from Beijing.
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