Heading into today’s G7 meeting, officials said they expect two priority areas for the group of leaders: determining where they can bolster support for Ukraine’s air defenses and the uncertain energy situation as winter approaches.
The meeting, which is currently underway, was in preparation before Monday’s bombings in Kyiv and other cities, but the meeting took on new urgency as Russia targeted civilian targets.
Officials worked on a joint G7 statement to be released at the end of the meeting, but it was unclear whether it would include major new joint announcements on sanctions, security aid or energy independence. of Russia. A European official said that the main deliverables should not come out of the meeting.
Instead, the leaders are again hoping to demonstrate Western unity by hearing from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who officials say will continue to call for better air defenses and more sanctions against Russia.
On Monday, Zelensky had separate phone conversations with six of the seven G7 leaders – US President Joe Biden, French Emmanuel Macron, German Olaf Scholz, Britain’s Liz Truss, Canada’s Justin Trudeau and Italy’s Mario Draghi.
Biden also spoke over the weekend with German Chancellor Scholz, chairman of the G7, in part to prepare for today’s call. While the White House didn’t mention the nuclear threat from Russia in its reading, the topic came up in conversation.
