President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will take part in the G7 summit in Hiroshima online. This was announced on Friday morning by the press service of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
At the same time, a number of leading Western and Japanese media outlets previously reported that Zelensky would come to Japan in person, and NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov also hinted at this.
The fact that Zelensky will come to Hiroshima, citing sources in the Japanese government, was reported by the Kyodo agency, as well as The New York Times , The Washington Post and CNN . Reuters reports this information with reference to a source in the European Union. Oleksiy Danilov said
on the air of the telethon that very important decisions would be made at the meeting, and therefore the physical presence of the president is important for defending the interests of Ukraine.
Zelensky’s office did not previously rule out that he could personally attend the event, but said that “everything will depend on the situation on the battlefield.”
Bloomberg claimed Zelensky would fly to Japan on a US Air Force military plane after visiting Saudi Arabia for an Arab League summit. Recently, the President of Ukraine visited Italy, Germany, France and Great Britain, where he agreed on the supply of new batches of weapons to Kyiv.
By noon on May 19 Moscow time, it was not clear whether Zelensky had changed plans, whether the media reporting his visit were wrong, or whether the President of Ukraine, despite the message from the National Security and Defense Council, would still come to Hiroshima.
Zelensky was invited to the summit by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida when he visited Kyiv in March. Kisida said that the President of Ukraine would not attend the summit in person, but would speak online. Japan’s Foreign Ministry said Zelensky will join the meeting via video link on Sunday.
The war in Ukraine and Kiev’s support in repulsing Russian aggression is one of the main topics of the current meeting of the leaders of the seven most developed industrial countries of the world, which is taking place in Hiroshima from May 19 to 21.
The summit participants are expected to announce new sanctions against Moscow. The representative of the US delegation noted the intention of the allies to “redouble efforts” to tighten existing sanctions designed to weaken Russia’s military capabilities and punish those responsible for the aggression.
Source : Радио Свобода
