Even Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, whose relationship can be complicated, found themselves arm in arm as they walked away from one of a string of “family photos.” That level of chaos was nowhere to be found in Hiroshima this past week, when leaders appeared to generally like each other. Whether Trump would even continue attending G7 summits if he returns to the White House is an open question as president, he repeatedly questioned his team why it was necessary to attend. There is little enthusiasm for that type of summit to return, at least among the leaders and their aides who currently comprise the G7. The exchange on Russia was notable for the fiercely argued views on both sides, shocked officials said at the time. He was met with sharp resistance from some of the leaders, principally German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, neither of whom remains in power. As the leaders dined on plates of Basque vegetables and red tuna overlooking the Atlantic coast, Trump interjected and asked why Russia should not be included in the talks, given its size and role in global affairs. Trump’s potential return to the White House, or the election of another like-minded Republican, has worried Ukrainian and Western leaders alike, according to diplomats and other officials.Īfter all, it was Trump who had argued over dinner at the 2019 G7 summit in Biarritz, France, that Russia should be allowed back into the group.
None of the G7 leaders are particularly popular at home, even as they produce results abroad.īiden’s fellow leaders have undoubtedly taken notice, with no small measure of alarm, at statements made earlier this month by former President Donald Trump during a CNN town hall casting doubt on his support for Ukraine and pledging to resolve the crisis in a day. Yet implicit in Zelensky’s decision to show up here in person is the lingering fear – which Moscow is banking on – that fatigue and political pressure will cause Western support for Ukraine to wane.
#Derelict void free#
The transformation of the G7 in the decade since Russia was ejected – and particularly the past two years – has turned the group into what Biden’s top aides call the “steering committee of the free world.” With refreshed purpose and an eye on China, no other body has been as effective in coalescing around shared action.
Walking away, President Joe Biden wrapped his arm around Zelensky’s shoulders. Standing in a line of suit jackets at a photo-op Sunday, Zelensky’s military uniform stood out, a reminder of the war that continues to ravage his country. It wasn’t very long ago that the eighth seat (or actually the tenth, if you count the two representatives from the European Union) was occupied by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was ejected from the bloc in 2014 following his annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea. In the same city obliterated by the world’s first atomic bomb, leaders of the world’s top industrial democracies added a seat at their table for besieged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose warnings of Russian escalation assumed new significance against the nuclear backdrop of Hiroshima. It hardly required a degree in international relations to comprehend the weighty symbolism at play here on the final day of an unusually consequential Group of Seven summit.
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