Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will travel to Hiroshima, Japan, to join the Group of Seven leaders in person, according to people familiar with the plans.
Zelenskiy will fly on a US military plane to Japan after an expected stop in Saudi Arabia to attend the Arab League summit, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. A French official later clarified that it will fly the Ukrainian president to Hiroshima from the Middle East. The US military provided the plane to Saudi Arabia, according to people familiar.
A spokesman for the US National Security Council declined to comment.
Japanese officials had previously said Zelenskiy would join the others virtually, even while they added an extra session on Ukraine on Sunday to accommodate the Ukrainian leader’s schedule. A spokesperson for Japan’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment further on Friday.
The visit to Hiroshima, ground zero for the first nuclear attack 78 years ago, is particularly symbolic given Russian President Vladimir Putin’s periodic threats to use atomic weapons in Ukraine.
G-7 leaders will hold talks on further responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during meetings that began Friday. Bloomberg reported that the nations will agree to work together to track Russian diamonds, but stop short of hitting Moscow with an outright ban on the lucrative gem trade.
Brazil, India
Barrages of sanctions have crimped growth but failed to deter Putin’s military assault on Ukraine, and Russia’s economy has been underpinned by commodity and energy exports to countries outside the G-7.
On Sunday, G-7 leaders are scheduled to meet with counterparts in the so-called Global South. That includes countries such as India, Vietnam and Brazil, whose president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has drawn criticism for repeated suggestions that Zelenskiy bears some responsibility for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Tensions were exacerbated following Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Brasilia last month.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has also been one of the prime buyers of Russian oil and weapons, providing hard currency to Putin’s government at a time when the G-7 is seeking to starve it of funds.
Over the past week Zelenskiy toured European capitals to make the case for more weapons deliveries. His trip to Berlin coincided with Germany announcing its largest aid package yet, and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged support for a coalition to help provide Ukraine with Western-made fighter jets, though no concrete plans were set.
It’s still not clear whether US President Joe Biden would sign off on sending American jets as well. Although Ukraine has sought more advanced fighter jets since the first days of Russia’s invasion last year, Western governments have resisted the requests over concerns about the risk of escalating tensions with Moscow.
Read more: Renewed Threats to Use Nuclear Bombs Loom Over Hiroshima G-7
Separately, Ukraine shot down 16 loitering drones and three missiles overnight, as Russia continued an air-strike campaign across the country and targeted the capital Kyiv for the 10th time this month.
Explosions were reported in the Western city of Lviv and the central city of Kryvyi Rih, as six Shahed 136/131 drones and three Kalibre cruise missiles got through the air defenses, according to the country’s air force and local authorities.
All drones targeting the Kyiv region were destroyed, Ruslan Kravchenko, the head of the regional military administration, said on Telegram.
--With assistance from Yuki Hagiwara and Volodymyr Verbyany.
(Updates with background throughout)
