G7 leaders agreed to increase support for Ukraine amid efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war. US President Donald Trump also urged Moscow to immediately negotiate to reach a peace agreement.
Based on a Kyodo News report quoted Tuesday, June 16, the agreement was reached at the G7 annual summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, Tuesday. The G7 is a group of advanced industrial countries consisting of the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
The Japanese government stated that the G7 would continue to work together to realize "a just and lasting peace" in Ukraine.
The decision comes amid increasingly tense relations between Trump and a number of European leaders.
Trump said he would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the same day.
"Russia has to make a deal. Russia has lost so many people, so has Ukraine," Trump told reporters.
"I will do whatever I can," he said, to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Zelenskyy, who took part in a working session with G7 leaders, wrote on social media that the main focus of the meeting in a spa town near the Swiss border was strengthening Ukraine's air defenses and promoting diplomacy.
According to Zelenskyy, his main goal is to make Russia end the war. "Peace is needed," he wrote.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the G7 must prioritize Ukraine's desire for its own future. He also stressed the importance of maintaining the unity of the G7 to encourage Russia to take "positive action", according to the Japanese government.
Takaichi also stressed that attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force should not be tolerated. He expressed concern over Russia's military cooperation with North Korea as well as Russia's deepening military ties with China.
Before discussing Ukraine, G7 leaders first discussed efforts to end the nearly four-month war with Iran at a working dinner on Monday evening.
On the second day of the Summit, the Middle East issue and the reform of international development financing were also on the agenda. Development financing reform is an effort to reorganize the way of funding for poor countries, including through new investments and partnerships.
The special session on Ukraine took place when the world's attention was still on Iran. On the other hand, Kyiv is said to have strengthened its position on the battlefield by working more closely with European countries than the United States.
In a bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump said he would step up efforts to end the war that began with Russia's massive invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
"Now that this is over, we'll focus on that, see if we can get it done," Trump said, referring to the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
In addition to Zelenskyy, France as the current G7 presidency also invited leaders from Brazil, Egypt, India, Qatar, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates.
Together with the leaders of Egypt, Qatar, and the UAE, the G7 leaders held a working lunch on the Middle East on Tuesday. According to Kyodo News, they almost certainly discussed the Iran war and its impact in detail.
The leaders of the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, and the European Union are also scheduled to discuss development financing reforms with invited partner countries.
France is pushing the G7 to seek new forms of partnership as traditional official development assistance is increasingly judged to be insufficient to meet the needs of poor countries.
A senior US official said Trump wanted to direct development discussions on investment partnerships that are mutually beneficial for investor countries and recipient countries.
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