Leaders of the Group of Seven (G-7) industrialized countries wrapped up their three-day summit on Sunday after a series of sessions in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima. On the final day of the annual meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in a G-7 outreach session that included heads of eight guest countries, such as India, Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea.
The meeting handled discussions on challenges to peace and stability facing the international community, including the situation in Ukraine, according to the Japanese government.
At a press conference following the conclusion of the summit meetings, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who chaired the Hiroshima gatherings, stressed the significance of their outcomes, such as their concerted support to Ukraine.
“In addition to demonstrating unwavering solidarity between the G-7 and Ukraine, it is significant that the G-7 confirmed the importance of the ‘free and open international order based on the rule of law’, and powerfully sent a message to the world that we reaffirmed our determination to uphold it,” said Kishida.
He further stressed, “We reaffirmed our determination to work toward a world free of nuclear weapons, and issue the G-7 Leaders’ Hiroshima Vision, which focuses on nuclear disarmament for the first time,” On the use of nuclear weapons to change the status quo, Kishida asserted that it is “unacceptable”.
In their joint communique released Saturday, G-7 leaders agreed to boost support to Ukraine in face of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, and reaffirmed their opposition to any unilateral attempts to change status quo by force.
They also pledged to strengthen disarmament and nonproliferation efforts to achieve the “ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons,” according to the document. In addition, the communique urged China to press Russia to stop its aggression against Ukraine. As for the East Asian region, the leaders called for peaceful resolution of Taiwan issues with China, and demanded North Korea to completely abandon nuclear weapons.
Source: KUNA