Zelenskiy Joins G7 in Japan as Group Takes Aim at Russia and China

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy disembarks upon his arrival at Hiroshima Airport at Mihara, Hiroshima prefecture, on the second day of the G7 Summit Leaders' Meeting on May 20, 2023. (AFP)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy disembarks upon his arrival at Hiroshima Airport at Mihara, Hiroshima prefecture, on the second day of the G7 Summit Leaders' Meeting on May 20, 2023. (AFP)
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Zelenskiy Joins G7 in Japan as Group Takes Aim at Russia and China

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy disembarks upon his arrival at Hiroshima Airport at Mihara, Hiroshima prefecture, on the second day of the G7 Summit Leaders' Meeting on May 20, 2023. (AFP)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy disembarks upon his arrival at Hiroshima Airport at Mihara, Hiroshima prefecture, on the second day of the G7 Summit Leaders' Meeting on May 20, 2023. (AFP)

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Japan on Saturday to attend the Group of Seven (G7) summit, giving him a rare chance to both drum up support from the world's rich democracies and sound out "Global South" leaders with long ties to Russia.

The Ukrainian president's attendance at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, the first city to suffer a nuclear attack, also put in sharp relief western concerns over the nuclear threat posed by Moscow.

G7 members - the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada - are grappling with the immense challenges posed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and tensions with China, notably over Taiwan and economic security.

Worried by the outsized role China now plays in supply chains in everything from semiconductors to critical minerals, the G7 issued a communique that set out a common strategy towards future dealings with the world's second largest economy.

"We are not decoupling or turning inwards. At the same time, we recognize that economic resilience requires de-risking and diversifying," the communique said.

"A growing China that plays by international rules would be of global interest."

In a separate statement on economic security, G7 members warned that countries attempting to use trade as a weapon would face "consequences", sending a strong signal to Beijing over practices Washington has long said amount to economic bullying.

The communique was issued shortly after the French government aircraft that brought Zelenskiy to Hiroshima touched down.

Footage from Japanese broadcasters showed the Ukrainian president, wearing his customary olive green fatigues, stepping down to the tarmac moving quickly to a waiting car.

Moments later he tweeted: "Japan. G7. Important meetings with partners and friends of Ukraine."

French and European officials said it was crucial that Zelenskiy came in person first to the Arab League, which he addressed on Friday, and now to the G7, where members of the Global South are attending, in order to outline Ukraine's view as the victim of an attack by Russia and how he saw a peace settlement in the future.

"We have to use all the means to bind non-aligned states to the cause of the defense of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," a French presidential official told reporters.

Zelenskiy will hold bilateral meetings with G7 leaders, but significantly also the leaders of India and Brazil, two countries that have not distanced themselves from Moscow.

Both Brazil and India are members of the BRIC grouping that also includes Russia and China.

He is due to hold a session on Sunday with the G7 before a broader session with the Global South attendees.



‘Nobody Knows:’ Trump Won’t Say Whether He Will Move Forward with US Strikes on Iran

US President Donald Trump looks on during the installation of a new flagpole on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, DC, US, June 18, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump looks on during the installation of a new flagpole on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, DC, US, June 18, 2025. (Reuters)
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‘Nobody Knows:’ Trump Won’t Say Whether He Will Move Forward with US Strikes on Iran

US President Donald Trump looks on during the installation of a new flagpole on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, DC, US, June 18, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump looks on during the installation of a new flagpole on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, DC, US, June 18, 2025. (Reuters)

President Donald Trump would not say Wednesday whether he has decided to order a US strike on Iran, a move that Tehran warned anew would be greeted with stiff retaliation if it happens.

"I may do it, I may not do it," Trump said in an exchange with reporters at the White House. "I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do."

Trump added that it’s not "too late" for Iran to give up its nuclear program as he continues to weigh direct US involvement in Israel's military operations aimed at crushing Tehran's nuclear program.

"Nothing’s too late," Trump said. "I can tell you this. Iran’s got a lot of trouble."

"Nothing is finished until it is finished," Trump added. But "the next week is going to be very big— maybe less than a week."

He also offered a terse response to Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's refusal to heed to his call for Iran to submit to an unconditional surrender.

"I say good luck," Trump said.

Khamenei earlier Wednesday warned that any United States strikes targeting Iran will "result in irreparable damage for them" and that his country would not bow to Trump’s call for surrender.

Trump said Tuesday the US knows where Iran’s Khamenei is hiding as the Israel-Iran conflict escalates but doesn’t want him killed — "for now."

"He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now," Trump said.

Trump’s increasingly muscular comments toward the Iranian government come after he urged Tehran’s 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives as he cut short his participation in an international summit earlier this week to return to Washington for urgent talks with his national security team.