US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke Thursday after signing a bilateral security agreement on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy. “We’re going to stand by Ukraine,” Biden said, vowing lasting support for the country’s defense now and in the future.
Support for Ukraine has been a key topic of the meetings so far. After lengthy and complicated negotiations, G7 leaders have agreed to loan Ukraine money backed by profits from frozen Russian investments, according to a senior US official.
The summit comes after a congressional fight over additional US funding for Ukraine — something Biden personally has apologized to Zelensky for — and as the president’s 2024 rival Donald Trump is in Washington, DC, meeting with GOP allies.
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We’ve wrapped up our live coverage. Scroll through the posts below to catch up on all the news from Biden and Zelensky’s appearance during the G7 summit.
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US and Ukraine sign new security agreement on G7 sidelines. Here's everything you need to know
From CNN staff
President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shake hands after signing a security agreement on the sidelines of the G7, Thursday, June 13,.
Alex Brandon)
The United States and Ukraine signed a bilateral security pact on the sidelines of the G7 in Italy on Thursday. The deal lays out a path for the US’ long-term security relationship with Kyiv — but could also be undone by future US administrations, according to officials familiar with its details.
The agreement follows months of negotiations between the US and Ukraine. After signing the agreement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Joe Biden made remarks and answered questions.
Here’s what to know:
What is included in the deal: The agreement commits the US for 10 years to continued training of Ukraine’s armed forces, more cooperation in the production of weapons and military equipment, the continued provision of military assistance and greater intelligence sharing.
What Biden said: Biden reiterated the US’ support of Ukraine and said his country will ensure Ukraine can defend itself now and deter potential attacks in the future. He said US air defense system support will continue to focus on Ukraine, and that other countries expecting that same support will have to wait.
What Zelensky said: Zelensky marked what he called a “truly historic day” after signing the agreement and said it would benefit all countries because Russia is a “real global threat.” The Ukrainian president said the pact will serve as a bridge to Kyiv’s attempt to join NATO. Though the agreement is not binding to future presidents, Zelensky said he thinks future US leaders will continue to support Ukraine. He also said he received assurances from Chinese leadership that they will not supply weapons to Russia
Russian sanctions: Biden also announced new sanctions on Russia. The measures take aim at foreign financial institutions supporting Russia’s war, restrict Russia’s access to certain US software and information technology services, and target over 300 individuals and entities “whose products and services enable Russia to sustain its war effort,” the US Department of Treasury said. All the G7 leaders, meanwhile, reached an agreement to loan money to Ukraine backed by the profits from frozen Russian investments, an official said.
The looming US election: The pledge is an “executive agreement” making it less formal than a treaty and not necessarily binding for any future presidents. Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has not explicitly said whether he would continue support for Ukraine if he wins in November, saying only that he would negotiate a quick end to the Russia-Ukraine war without explaining how.
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Security agreement serves as bridge to Ukraine's NATO membership, Zelensky says
From CNN's Sugam Pokharel
Zelenskyy speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the G7 on June 13.
Alex Brandon/AP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that the bilateral security pact that Ukraine and the United States signed on Thursday will serve as a bridge to Kyiv’s attempt to join NATO.
“It is very important for all Ukrainians and for all Europeans to know that there will be no security deficit in Europe, which tempts the aggressor to war and makes the future uncertain,” he added.
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Other countries will have to wait while US focuses on providing air defense support to Ukraine, Biden says
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
Biden speaks during a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 13.
Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
President Joe Biden said that US air defense system support will continue to focus on Ukraine, and that other countries expecting that same support will have to wait.
Some background: TheUS-made Patriot air defense system that Biden referenced is among the most complex and prized contributions the country has made to Ukraine’s war efforts.
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Zelensky says he has received assurances from China that they will not sell weapons to Russia
From CNN's Michael Williams
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has received assurances from Chinese leadership that they will not supply weapons to Russia in their war against Ukraine.
“I had phone conversation with the leader of China, by phone. He said that he will not sell any weapon to Russia,” Zelensky said.
“We’ll see. … If he is respectable person, he will not. Because he gave me (his) word.”
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Zelensky says he thinks future leaders of the United States will continue to support Ukraine
From CNN's Elise Hammond
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the United States and leaders like President Joe Biden have supported Ukraine in its war against Russia because of their countries’ shared values — something he says he thinks will continue as the US heads into a presidential election this fall.
“They work based on the voice of their people and it is impossible without people,” Zelensky, who was speaking Ukrainian, said of US leaders.
Zelensky and Biden are giving remarks after signing a security agreement between their two countries on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy on Thursday.
The agreement is an “executive agreement,” making it less formal than a treaty and not necessarily binding for any future presidents.
Former President Donald Trump, who is the GOP frontrunner, previously pledged to end the war in Ukraine, though he’s offered no details on how he would do so. “Shortly after I win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled,” Trump said at a New Hampshire campaign event last year, adding in another speech that it would take him “no longer than one day” to settle the war if elected.
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Biden says he won't pardon Hunter Biden or commute his sentence after guilty verdict
From CNN's Michael Williams
US President Joe Biden reaffirmed his support for his son, Hunter Biden, in the first in-person comments the president has made since his son’s conviction on federal gun charges on Tuesday.
Biden said he would not pardon his son, restating a commitment he made last week, before Hunter Biden was convicted.
At the end of the news conference, Biden also responded “no” to a shouted question asking whether he would consider commuting his son’s sentence. Hunter Biden has not yet received his sentence.
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Zelensky says US-Ukraine security agreement benefits all countries
From CNN's Elise Hammond
Zelenskyy speaks tot the media after signing a bilateral security agreement on the sidelines of the G7 on Thursday, June 13.
Alex Brando/AP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky marked what he called a “truly historic day” after signing a bilateral security pact between his country and the United States.
“We have signed the strongest agreement within Ukraine and the US since our independence,” the president said at a news conference with US President Joe Biden. The world leaders are gathered for the G7 summit in Italy.
Zelensky said the agreement benefits everyone because Russia is a “real global threat.”
The Ukrainian president thanked Biden and Americans listening at home — comments that come after a congressional fight over additional US funding for Ukraine.
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Biden says US will stand with Ukraine "against tyranny"
From CNN's Michael Williams
President Joe Biden speaks to the media after signing a bilateral security agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Thursday, June 13.
Alex Brandon/AP
US President Joe Biden on Thursday said the US remains steadfast in its support of Ukraine, as he attends the G7 Summit in Italy seeking to shore up American alliances.
Russia’s war, Biden said after signing a long-term security deal with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has been a “test for the world.”
“The United States, the G7 and countries around the world have consistently answered that question by saying yes we will. We will say it again … we’re going to stand with Ukraine.”
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US will ensure Ukraine can defend itself now and in the future, Biden says
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
US President Joe Biden addressed reporters after signing a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine on Thursday.
During a joint news conference on the sidelines of the G7 summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Biden said the US and other countries signed security agreements so that Ukraine can defend itself now and deter potential attacks in the future.
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NOW: Biden and Zelensky speak after signing bilateral security agreement on G7 sidelines
From CNN staff
Biden and Zelensky sign a bilateral security agreement on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Italy on Thursday, June 13.
Pool
US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are speaking in a joint news conference after signing a bilateral security agreement on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Italy.
The deal lays out a path for the US’ long-term security relationship with Kyiv but could also be undone by future US administrations, according to senior US officials.
The agreement follows months of negotiations between the US and Ukraine and is expected to commit the US for 10 years to continued training of Ukraine’s armed forces, more cooperation in the production of weapons and military equipment, the continued provision of military assistance and greater intelligence sharing.
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Zelensky calls on G7 to draw recovery effort similar to "Marshall Plan" for Ukraine’s reconstruction
From Svitlana Vlasova and Caitlin Danaher
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky attends a meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the G7 leaders' summit in Puglia, Italy.
Press Association/AP Images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the Group of Seven countries to draw up a clear plan for Ukraine’s recovery after the war.
“We need a clear plan for the recovery, similar to the Marshall Plan for Europe after the war,” Zelensky said, referencing the historic plan between the US and Europe that helped reconstruct the devastated continent after World War II.
The Ukrainian president called on the group to agree on a recovery plan “in time for the NATO summit in Washington,” which will take place in early July.
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Meanwhile: NATO is set to finalize agreement giving alliance "greater role" in Ukraine aid
From CNN's Haley Britzky and Natasha Bertrand
NATO defense ministers are expected to finalize an agreement Friday that will give the alliance greater control over security assistance and training for Ukraine’s military.
Some officials say the agreement is meant to give Europe greater responsibility over the aid amid uncertainty over the outcome of the US presidential election this fall.
The possibility that former President Donald Trump, who has long been skeptical of providing US military support to NATO and Europe, could win the election “is a huge part” of why NATO is moving forward with the consolidation plan, said one official familiar with the discussions.
It is also a way to give Europe more responsibility over the training and equipping of Ukraine, as the extent of the US’ commitment to supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia post-November remains unclear, the official said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced the intent in a news conference Thursday, saying NATO provides “more than 99% of all military support to Ukraine … so it makes sense that NATO takes on a greater role in these efforts.”
CNN previously reported the options around ensuring long-term support for Ukraine, which one senior European diplomat described at the time as “future-proofing.”
US and Ukraine expected to sign long-term security agreement at G7
From CNN’s Natasha Bertrand
Max, a recruitment officer for the DaVinci Wolves Battalion, talks with 39 year-old Mykhailo during his recruitment interview at a recruitment office on February 22, in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
The US and Ukraine are expected to sign a bilateral security pact on the sidelines of the G7 in Italy on Thursday, multiple people familiar with the matter told CNN, in a deal that lays out a path for the US’ long-term security relationship with Kyiv but that could also be undone by future US administrations.
The agreement follows months of negotiations between the US and Ukraine and is expected to commit the US for 10 years to continued training of Ukraine’s armed forces, more cooperation in the production of weapons and military equipment, the continued provision of military assistance and greater intelligence sharing.
But the pledge is expected to be an “executive agreement,” the sources said, making it less formal than a treaty and not necessarily binding for any future presidents.
Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has not explicitly said whether he would continue support for Ukraine if he wins in November, saying only that he would negotiate a quick end to the Russia-Ukraine war without explaining how. He has also pushed European countries to contribute more to their own defense and said he’d “encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” if Europe didn’t increase its defense funding.
The US-Ukraine agreement does not make a specific monetary pledge to support Ukraine’s defense, two of the sources familiar with the agreement said. An annex in the agreement will lay out how the Biden administration plans to work with Congress on the implementation of the security commitments, one of the sources said, specifically the long-term funding that will be needed to support Ukraine’s defense.
Biden touts $60 billion investment in global infrastructure project
From CNN's Samantha Waldenberg
President Joe Biden touted a $60 billion investment by the United States in global infrastructure during a roundtable event at the G7 in Italy on Thursday.
Appearing alongside the other G7 leaders during a roundtable event, Biden spoke mostly off notecards. The president thanked his Italian host, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in particular.
“All told, I’m proud to announce the United States has mobilized more than $60 billion in investments around the world thus far, that’s double where we were last year,” Biden said.
The initiative was launched during the 2022 G7 summit at Schloss Elmau, Germany – a move to better position the US and its allies to compete with China in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Analysis: As other G7 leaders face the end, Giorgia Meloni seizes her moment
From CNN’s Nic Robertson
From left to right, European Council President Charles Michel, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pose for a photo during a welcome ceremony at the G7 summit.
Antonio Masiello/Getty Images
Greeting Group of Seven leaders in a sumptuous Puglia resort, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni looked happy and at ease. As she hosts the three-day G7 summit, Meloni has every reason to enjoy the moment. Those shaking her hands, however, face uncertainty or impending elections that could toss them from office completely.
Meloni, whose political roots grew from a fascist-inspired party, has none of those concerns. Her Brothers of Italy party resoundingly won last week’s European parliamentary elections in Italy with 28.8% of the vote. This firm standing is making her political kryptonite right now.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen – the first to meet Meloni at the G7 – needs the Italian leader to stay out of her way to secure a second presidency.
US President Joe Biden – who showed up late and looking a trifle out of sorts – faces a big political challenge in November against expected challenger Donald Trump, whose politics are much closer to Meloni’s than Biden’s.
British Prime Minster Rishi Sunak’s Conservative party is about to be trounced in UK elections on July 4, and French President Emmanuel Macron has called snap parliamentary elections for June 30, following far-right successes in the European vote.
Japan’s Fumio Kishida is battling a scandal in his own party. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is unpopular in Canada, which will vote by next year at the latest. And German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who fared badly in the EU poll, will also face elections in 2025.
Meloni may well be greeting a radically different set of G7 leaders the next time they all meet.
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Moscow warns of retaliation after G7 decision to use frozen Russian assets for loan to Ukraine
From CNN’s Caitlin Danaher and Sugam Pokharel in London
The Russian foreign ministry has warned that leaders from the Group of Seven countries will face “painful” retaliatory measures following their decision to loan money to Ukraine using profits from frozen Russian investments.
The agreement to provide Ukraine with $50 billion from Russian assets “will not lead the West to anything good,” Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said during a news conference in Moscow on Thursday.
Zakharova called the agreement an “illegal initiative” that “threatens to completely unbalance the financial system and create cataclysmic crises.”
“There is enough European property and money in Russia … and inevitable retaliatory measures will be extremely painful for Brussels,” she said.
More on the agreement: The loan will be drawn from funds frozen by Western leaders in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. While just $3 billion in frozen funds is located in US banks, a much larger share, adding up to hundreds of billions of dollars, is located in banks in Europe.
Negotiators have focused on a loan amount of about $50 billion.
The loan is expected to be delivered by the end of 2024, which would ensure the money would get to Ukraine before a potential change in US presidents. President Joe Biden is facing off against former President Donald Trump in November’s US presidential election, and Trump has refused to commit to sending additional funding to Ukraine.
CNN’s Betsy Klein and Kayla Tausche contributed to this report.
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Biden pushed to keep mentions of reproductive rights in G7 statement
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
US President Joe Biden pushed to keep language about reproductive rights in a G7 leaders statement after the summit host, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, sought to strip some language from the document, according to American officials.
Biden worked with other G7 leaders to ensure abortion and reproductive rights remained in the final statement, according to diplomats familiar with the matter.
“The president felt very strongly that we needed to have at the very least the language that references what we did in Hiroshima on women’s health and reproductive rights,” a senior US administration official said, referring to last year’s G7 summit in Japan.
In that document, leaders reiterated their support for “access to safe and legal abortion and post abortion care.”
It also expressed “strong concern about the rollback of women’s and girls’ rights.”
Remember: The G7, or Group of Seven, is made up of allied leaders from some of the world’s largest economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the US.
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Analysis: Biden is leading a new drive to cement the West’s Ukraine war effort against Putin – and Trump
From CNN's Stephen Collinson
President Joe Biden is leading the world’s richest democracies in sending a beefed-up message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the West will not forsake Ukraine despite political shocks casting doubts over its commitment.
Biden meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Italy on the sidelines of the G7 summit Thursday, aiming to personally reinforce a promise he spelled out last week on Normandy battlefields where fascism began to crack 80 years ago.
“We will not walk away, because if we do, Ukraine will be subjugated and it will not end there,” Biden said surrounded by the last surviving US veterans of D-Day and the graves of more than 9,000 of their fallen comrades. “Ukraine’s neighbors will be threatened. All of Europe will be threatened. … The autocrats of the world are watching closely to see what happens in Ukraine.”
Yet Biden’s undertaking will come up against growing concerns in Europe that he will merely be an interregnum between two Donald Trump administrations. The ex-president’s term that ended in 2021 shattered decades-old certainties that the United States will be a stabilizing force in transatlantic affairs and will always secure Europe’s security. And the “autocrats of the world” name checked by Biden will no doubt be watching on Thursday when Trump demonstrates his lock on the Republican Party by meeting GOP House members and senators on Capitol Hill.
Asked by reporters about the president’s decision aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president will have a “jam-packed two days” and that reporters should not “read too much” into the president’s choice not to attend.
The president arrived in Italy late Wednesday after an almost eight-hour flight, and this week’s summit comes on the heels of a trip to France last week for the anniversary of D-Day and for a state visit in Paris.
It’s at least the fourth time, per CNN’s count, that the president will skip or leave early from an official dinner with other world leaders. In 2022, the president did not attend the G20 dinner in Bali.
In 2023, the president left early from the G7 dinner in Hiroshima and returned to his hotel to receive a briefing from his debt ceiling negotiation team. The president also skipped a NATO summit dinner in Lithuania in 2023.
Biden, the oldest sitting US president, is 81 years old and has faced questions and criticism over whether he is “too old” to run for reelection.
A 59% majority of Americans see both Biden and former President Donald Trump as too old for another term as president, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released earlier this year.
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G7 leaders agree to loan Ukraine money backed by profits from frozen Russian investments
From CNN's Betsy Klein
Group of Seven leaders have reached an agreement to loan money to Ukraine backed by the profits from frozen Russian investments, a senior US administration official confirmed Thursday, as the G7 met in Puglia, Italy.
The official added that it’s “only fair that we close the gap by making Russia pay, not our taxpayers, and we found a way to do so that respects the rule of law in every jurisdiction.”
The agreement is the product of years of negotiation complicated by a patchwork of jurisdictional laws that required the direct involvement of President Joe Biden and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, among other top US officials.
What happens next: The leaders will soon issue a joint communiqué on the decision.
It will take some time before Ukraine begins to receive this money, but the US official said the effort would “move with urgency” and the commitment remains “to be ready to disperse $50 billion this calendar year.”
If the loan is dispersed by the end of 2024, it would ensure the money would get to Ukraine before a potential change in US presidents. Biden is facing off against former President Donald Trump in November’s US presidential election, and Trump has refused to commit to sending additional funding to Ukraine.
“The next steps are to enshrine the communiqué commitments with the EU 27, the full membership, then we need to write contracts between the lenders … the recipient, which is Ukraine, and the intermediaries,” the official said.
From there, there will be an agreement on a dispersal schedule.
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Biden administration announces new sanctions aimed at kneecapping Russia’s defense industrial base
From CNN’s Betsy Klein and Donald Judd
US President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the White House on May 31, in Washington, DC.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
US President Joe Biden arrived to the G7 Summit in Italy armed with a new set of more than 300 sanctions aimed at further isolating and financially weakening Russia more than two years into its offensive in Ukraine.
The measures, the US Department of Treasury said, are “guided by G7 commitments to intensify the pressure on Russia,” and mark the latest move to limit the Kremlin’s revenues and hamper Moscow’s ability to source materials for its war.
The sanctions take aim at foreign financial institutions supporting Russia’s war, restrict Russia’s access to certain US software and information technology services, and target over 300 individuals and entities “whose products and services enable Russia to sustain its war effort and evade sanction,” the department said.
The US and Western allies have levied a series of sanctions against Russia in recent years, but Russia has adapted to them. Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken to gloating about Russia’s resistance to international sanctions, which take time to have an effect.
Among the actions is a step that will authorize Treasury to impose sanctions on foreign financial institutions aiding Russia’s military-industrial base. The move threatens sanctions on any financial institution that does business with any previously-sanctioned individual or entity, including Sberbank and VTB bank.
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Biden and Zelensky will participate in news conference today during G7 summit
From CNN's Samantha Waldenberg
In this December 2023 photo, US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky take the stage for a news conference in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on December 12, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will participate in a news conference together today in Italy during the G7 summit, according to US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
The president apologized to Zelensky last week during a meeting in France for aid delays from the US, telling the Ukrainian leader: “We’re not going to walk away from you.”
Kirby echoed that sentiment ahead of the president’s travel, saying in part that “we will take bold steps to show Mr. Putin that time is not on his side and that he cannot outlast us as we support Ukraine’s fight for freedom.”
Biden is set to meet with other leaders from G7 nations – the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan – at the summit as well.
The White House also confirmed that Pope Francis will attend a special summit on artificial intelligence as part of the larger G7 summit.
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Zelensky says he will sign security agreements with US and Japan at G7 summit
From CNN's From Radina Gigova
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived at the G7 summit earlier on Thursday and was greeted by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Ahead of his arrival, Zelensky tweeted about the bilateral security agreements with US and Japan that he is expected to sign.
More background: The US and Ukraine are expected to sign a bilateral security pact on the sidelines of the G7 in Italy, multiple people familiar with the matter have told CNN, in a deal that lays out a path for the US’ longterm security relationship with Kyiv but that could also be undone by future US administrations.
The agreement follows months of negotiations between the US and Ukraine and is expected to commit the US for 10 years to continued training of Ukraine’s armed forces, more cooperation in the production of weapons and military equipment, the continued provision of military assistance and greater intelligence sharing.
Instead, nearly to a person, the leaders assembling at a luxury resort in Puglia find themselves weakened at home by elections, scandal or waning influence.
Amid the olive trees and swimming pools, the anti-incumbent sentiments coursing through Western democracies are creating extraordinarily high stakes for global geopolitics.
Rarely has the yearly gathering of the world’s leading economies been so overshadowed by the political vulnerabilities of nearly all its members. It raises questions of how effective the “steering committee of the free world,” as US President Joe Biden’s aides have labeled the G7, can actually be amid anger and discontent from their own populations.