Hirishima: Prior to the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later on Saturday, leaders of the world's most powerful democracies warned China and North Korea against increasing their nuclear arsenals and turned their attention to the serious northeast Asian crises.

The Group of Seven summit will put an emphasis on Asia as leaders tighten sanctions intended to punish Moscow and reshape its 15-month invasion of Ukraine. Zelensky had a "strong wish" to take part in discussions that would affect his country's defence against Russia, Japan confirmed, so he decided to attend the G7 in person.

President Joe Biden and Zelensky will interact directly at the summit, according to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. This comes a day after Biden expressed support for training Ukrainian pilots to fly US-made F-16 fighter jets in preparation for eventually supplying those aircraft to Ukraine's Air Force.

Also Read: Volkswagen has introduced the Tiguan in a new design

In Hiroshima, world leaders had to perform a delicate balancing act as they attempted to address a number of pressing issues, including climate change, artificial intelligence (AI), poverty and economic instability, nuclear proliferation, and, most importantly, the conflict in Ukraine.

The second-largest economy in the world, China, is at the centre of many of these issues.
Asia is becoming increasingly concerned that Beijing, which has been gradually enhancing its nuclear bomb programme, may attempt to annex Taiwan by force, igniting a larger conflict. China regularly sends ships and aircraft near the autonomous island and asserts ownership of it.

China's "accelerating build-up of its nuclear arsenal without transparency (or) meaningful dialogue poses a concern to global security," the G7 leaders warned in a statement.

The leaders declared that North Korea must completely give up its plans to develop a nuclear weapon, including "any further nuclear tests or launches that use ballistic missile technology." North Korea has been testing missiles at an accelerated rate in an effort to perfect a nuclear programme intended to target the continental United States. According to international nuclear treaties, North Korea cannot and will never hold the status of a nuclear-weapon State.

Also Read: In the highly developed defence industry, India is now in position to become a superpower

Following earlier decisions to send Abrams tanks and rocket launcher systems, the Biden administration has now approved F-16 training as part of its effort to arm Ukraine with more cutting-edge and potent weapons. Insisting that it is doing so so that Ukraine can defend itself, the United States has actively discouraged Ukrainian incursions into Russian territory.

We have reached a point where it is necessary to take a second look at the future to determine what Ukraine will require as part of a force in the future in order to be able to thwart and defend against Russian aggression, according to Sullivan.

Zelensky will participate in two separate sessions on Sunday, according to an EU official who briefed reporters on the discussions under the condition of anonymity. The war in Ukraine will be the main topic of discussion at the first G7-only meeting. The G7 and other invited countries will participate in the second session, which will be centred on "peace and stability."

The G7 leaders also used their meeting to announce plans to make the current financial sanctions against Moscow more effective in preventing President Vladimir Putin from waging war.

In a statement issued following meetings behind closed doors, the G7 leaders vowed that their support for Ukraine would not change. "To stand together against Russia's illegal, unjustified, and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine," they pledged.

"Russia started this war and can end this war," they declared.
Zelensky has repeatedly demanded the delivery of Western fighter jets to strengthen his nation's defences against a Russian invasion, but up until now the United States has been sceptical that they would tip the balance of the war.

Now that Ukraine has strengthened its air defences with a variety of anti-aircraft systems from the West and is getting ready to launch a counteroffensive against Russia, officials believe the jets could be useful in the conflict and crucial to the long-term security of the nation.

According to Biden, decisions on who, when, and how many fourth-generation F-16 fighter jets will be supplied will be made in the coming months while training is taking place.

The F-16 training will take place in Europe and is expected to start soon. According to two people who discussed Biden's private conversations with allies under the condition of anonymity, that is the case.
Zelensky announced on Friday that he had begun a visit to Saudi Arabia, the country hosting the summit of Arab leaders.

Stricter restrictions on already-sanctioned people and companies involved in the war effort are part of the most recent sanctions aimed at Russia. The United States has imposed sanctions on more than 125 people and organisations in 20 different nations. The financial sanctions have mainly targeted individuals involved in technology procurement for the Kremlin who have violated sanctions. 

71 businesses were also added to the list by the Commerce Department.
 The Friday sanctions, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, "will advance our global efforts to cut off Russian attempts to evade sanctions and will further tighten the vice on Putin's ability to wage his barbaric invasion."

For individuals and organisations with any interest in the assets of the Russian Central Bank, new reporting guidelines have also been issued. The aim is to "fully map holdings of Russia's sovereign assets that will remain immobilised in G7 jurisdictions until Russia pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine," according to the US Treasury Department.

Russia is currently the nation with the most sanctions, but the effectiveness of these measures is in doubt.

While the G7 nations "deserve credit" for their sanctions, Maria Snegovaya, a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, stated before the summit that "Russia still maintains capacity to fight this war in the long term."

The cost of war is "easily manageable for Russia in the next couple of years at least," she continued, "and the cumulative effect of sanctions is just not strong enough to radically alter that."

In a statement released on Friday, the G7 countries pledged to work to prevent Russia from using the global financial system to further its war efforts and issued a strong warning to other countries to stop arming and supporting Russia "or face severe costs."

On Friday, world leaders paid a visit to a park set aside as a memorial to the tens of thousands of people who died when the first atomic bomb was detonated during a war. Nuclear disarmament should be a major topic of discussion, according to Hiroshima's parliamentary representative and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

A US B-29 dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, a city that has come to be associated with anti-nuclear peace initiatives. The peace park contains memorials to that event.

Biden cancelled his trip to Papua New Guinea and Australia after his time in Japan so that he could return to the debt limit negotiations in Washington, and he set up a meeting with the leaders of the so-called Quad partnership, which consists of Japan, Australia, India, and the US, on Saturday on the sidelines of the G-7.
Moscow launched another aerial assault on Kiev as G7 participants were travelling to Hiroshima. 

Also Read: Major countries that involve in to revive the global economy after Covid 19

After weeks of relative calm, loud explosions rumbled through Kyiv in the early hours, marking the ninth time this month that Russian air raids have targeted the city.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is hosting the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan for a two-day summit in the Chinese city of Xi'an as part of a diplomatic duel.

The G7 leaders will also talk about ways to boost the world economy and deal with rising prices that are putting a strain on households and budgets all over the world, especially in developing nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

According to a US official, the leaders will publish a joint statement on Saturday outlining new initiatives in the G7's global infrastructure development initiative, which is intended to provide nations with an alternative to Chinese investment dollars.

Along with the European Union, the G7 consists of Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, and Italy.