2023-05-20 03:15:12
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected in Japan on Saturday for a surprise participation in the G7 summit where he will meet his American counterpart Joe Biden, who paved the way for a future delivery of fighter planes so demanded by Ukraine.
He is due to arrive in Hiroshima from Saudi Arabia, where he pleaded his case at the Arab League summit on Friday to “certain” countries he says are “turning a blind eye” to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In the Japanese city devastated in 1945 by the first atomic bomb in history, the head of state who became a warlord will be able to meet the leaders of the allied countries who already firmly support him on Sunday. But also those of non-aligned emerging great powers like Brazil and especially India, which maintains close military ties with Russia and has refused to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It has not been specified whether he will attend a dinner scheduled for Saturday evening with the leaders of the G7 and these invited countries.
The “best spokesperson” for the cause of Ukraine, “is the Ukrainian president himself”, estimated a French diplomatic source, while Paris provided him with a French government plane for the forward to Saudi Arabia and then to Japan.
– “Historic” decision –
Joe Biden “can’t wait” to “meet face-to-face” with his Ukrainian counterpart on the sidelines of the summit of the seven most industrialized democracies, his national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Saturday. They will discuss “the practical implementation” of the US decision on combat aircraft.
The arrival of President Zelensky has become the main subject of the G7, which must however also agree on Saturday on a common position in the face of the rise in economic, diplomatic and military power of China, once morest a backdrop of growing tensions between Washington and Beijing.
At the end of a meeting devoted to Ukraine on Friday, the White House said that the American president had overcome his long-standing reluctance by saying he was ready to allow other countries to supply Kiev with the combat planes he claims, American-made F-16s. A “historic” decision, hailed the Ukrainian president.
Jake Sullivan confirmed that Washington now supports a joint initiative by its allies to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s. During these long months of training, Westerners will decide when to deliver planes, how many, and which countries will provide them.
“The United Kingdom will work with the United States, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark to provide Ukraine with the air combat capability it needs”, immediately reacted British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, also present in Japan. French President Emmanuel Macron also said he was ready on Monday to provide training for Ukrainian pilots.
While his country is preparing a major counter-offensive once morest Moscow, Volodymyr Zelensky had just returned from a tour of Europe where he had once more requested these fighters. But so far, the West, led by the United States, resisted these demands, citing the risk of escalation of the conflict, and saying that it was not a priority.
Joe Biden’s diplomatic adviser assured that the American doctrine had “not changed”. The delivery of weapons “followed the requirements of the conflict”, he pleaded.
– “Economic coercion” –
He considered that the F-16s were part of the equipment that Kiev will need “in the future” to “be able to deter and defend once morest any Russian aggression”, beyond the immediate necessities linked to counter-terrorism. Ukrainian offensive planned for this spring and summer.
The White House reiterated the US position that, through its military assistance, including fighter jets, “the United States does not facilitate or support attacks on Russian soil”.
On Friday, the leaders of the Hiroshima summit had already announced new sanctions to “deprive Russia of G7 technologies, industrial equipment and services that support its war enterprise”.
On Saturday, the heads of state and government of the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Canada were to discuss the “economic coercion” often attributed to Beijing , and the necessary diversification of key sectors and supply chains, in order to be less dependent on China in particular.
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