G7 summit opens with Russian cash for Kyiv

President Joe Biden and Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni

All the leaders arrived "beleaguered, embattled or endangered," The New York Times said

(Image credit: Tiziana Fabi / AFP via Getty Images)

published 13 June 2024

What happened

Leaders from the G7 group of wealthy democracies arrived in Southern Italy on Thursday for a three-day summit focused on artificial intelligence, migration, countering China's rise and aiding Ukraine's fight against an increasingly bellicose Russia. The leaders have reportedly agreed to send Ukraine $50 billion, paid using interest from $300 billion in frozen Russian assets.

Who said what

President Joe Biden and the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan have an ambitious to-do list, but "when you talk to U.S. and European officials," there's a distinct now-or-never undercurrent, the Atlantic Council's Josh Lipsky said to The Associated Press. "We don't know what the world will look like three months, six months, nine months from now."

Aside from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, all the leaders arrived "beleaguered, embattled or endangered," The New York Times said. Far-right parties, like Meloni's, humbled the leaders of France and Germany in European Parliament elections last weekend. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to be swept from power in July, and Biden is fighting a hard race to win a second term in November.

For many attendees, "this is probably a welcome diversion from a difficult domestic environment," said Peter Ricketts, a former U.K. national security adviser.

What next?

Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will sign a 10-year bilateral security agreement on Thursday. Pope Francis will become the first pope to address a G7 summit on Friday, discussing the promises and perils of AI.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.