Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with G7 leaders on Sunday, the final day of the gathering of the leaders of the most powerful democracies.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, confirmed Zelenskyy’s attendance in a televised interview, according to the Associated Press.
“We were sure that our president would be where Ukraine needed him, in any part of the world, to solve the issue of stability of our country,” Danilov said in the interview. “There will be very important matters decided there, so physical presence is a crucial thing to defend our interests.”
The leaders of the G7, including American President Joe Biden, issued a joint statement offering their support to Ukraine and condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has now gone on for nearly 15 months.
“We reiterate our firm rejection of Russia’s illegal attempts to acquire Ukrainian territory by force. We underline that a just peace cannot be realized without the complete and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops and military equipment, and this must be included in any call for peace,” the leaders said.
Senior Biden administration officials said Friday that the U.S. and a coalition of other countries planned to ultimately provide F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Where the jets will come from and when they will be delivered is not yet clear, but senior officials said pilot training could begin in as little as a few weeks from now in sites around Europe.
US will support training efforts of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters
The U.S. confirmed it would help train Ukraine's pilots on the F-16 — the first step toward providing upgraded aircraft for its war against Russia.
The leaders said that they were adding economic sanctions on Russia to “starve Russia of G7 technology, industrial equipment and services that support its war machine.” The leaders said they would stop short of limiting agricultural, medical and humanitarian products in order to avoid impacts on other nations.
Zelenskyy’s visit to Japan comes after he made a number of stops to European allies. He visited the Pope, as well as the leaders of Italy, France, Germany and Great Britain.
On Friday, Zelenskyy landed in Saudi Arabia “to enhance bilateral relations and Ukraine’s ties with the Arab world.”
