The Ukrainian president will have meetings with other leaders, including Joe Biden, with whom he will talk about training pilots in fighter planes, including the F-16. in Japan, to participate in the meeting of G7 leaders and invited countries that runs until Sunday.
Zelensky arrived at Hiroshima airport on a French government plane from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The international meeting takes place at a time when Ukrainian troops are preparing a counter-offensive.
The Ukrainian leader is expected to participate in G7 meetings and hold bilateral talks with several leaders present in Hiroshima, including US President Joe Biden. They will talk about the international alliance to train Ukrainian pilots in combat aircraft, including the F-16.
Biden pledged his support for a joint initiative to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighter jets, including the F-16, according to the White House.
The G7 invited to Hiroshima the leaders of Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Australia, Cook Islands and Vietnam and organizations such as the UN, World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
At the start of the Hiroshima summit on Friday, the heads of state and government approved new sanctions on Russia to try to reduce Moscow’s ability to finance the war against Ukraine.
The group of seven industrialized countries, the G7, brings together Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Union (EU).
Arab League Summit
Zelensky was in Saudi Arabia on Friday to address the Arab League summit. In his speech, the Ukrainian president asked the participating leaders not to be influenced by Russia and to adopt their own positions. “Sadly, there are those in the world and here among you who turn a blind eye to these illegal annexations and I am here for all to see honestly. No matter how much the Russians try to influence, there must still be independence,” Zelensky said.
It was a veiled reference to Syria, whose president, Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Russia, refused to use simultaneous translation equipment during Zelensky’s speech, reported the official Syrian agency SANA.
Zelensky arrived by surprise in the city by the Red Sea shortly before the start of the meeting of Arab League heads of state.
Assad participated in the summit for the first time since Syria was recently readmitted to the organization, after almost 12 years of suspension.
Assad is an important ally of Russia, a country that has intervened militarily in Syria since 2015, in favor of the regime in Damascus. Russian support was critical for Syrian government troops to regain control of most of the territory they lost during the early years of the civil war.
as (Lusa, Efe)
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