Financial Times: How Zelenskyy upstaged G7 summit to confront Ukraine doubters
Ukrainian president defies host Japan’s expectations by timing attendance to ambush Brazil and India.
Ukrainian president defies host Japan’s expectations by timing attendance to ambush Brazil and India.
With the skeleton of Hiroshima’s A-Bomb Dome as a backdrop, Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida ended the G7 summit with a call for global peace and a world without nuclear weapons, after being upstaged by Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s appearance.
Only a few weeks earlier, Kishida had thought “the hurdle was too high” for the Ukrainian president to attend the gathering in person. However, Zelenskyy was determined to make his first visit to Asia since the start of Russia’s invasion, according to people involved in the preparations.
Whether by accident or design, the timing of Zelenskyy’s arrival in Hiroshima presented a rare opportunity to meet — or ambush — non-G7 leaders in attendance from Brazil and India, two developing powers that have maintained ties with Moscow.
It was also the perfect setting to garner support for Ukraine’s plans to end the war, which have been vying with rival proposals by China and others that seek a ceasefire without calling for Russia’s full withdrawal, according to Japanese and European officials.
When Zelenskyy joined the meeting of G7 leaders on Sunday, some speakers including French president Emmanuel Macron proposed the drafting of a “joint communication” to fully align the group behind the Ukrainian peace plan.
Dubbed the “Hiroshima peace principles” by one diplomat, it would have stood in contrast to the Chinese alternative and other proposals being suggested by various parties. The intention was to make it clear the G7 was in lockstep and to impress this upon their invited guests, not least India and Brazil.
“We are here in the city of peace and as such it’s a very good place to discuss the possibility of peace [in Ukraine],” said a European Commission official at the summit.
But as the summit drew to a close, plans for a declaration fizzled out. However, its main messages were broadcast nonetheless. At his news conference, Kishida laid out four principles that the participants had agreed on, including the importance of the UN Charter and the rule of law, as well as achieving the original aim of projecting solidarity with Ukraine.
“This war isn’t just European,” Macron told reporters ahead of Sunday’s talks. “It’s the opportunity to discuss, exchange and convince partners of this enlarged G7 . . . India, Brazil, Indonesia and several other countries from the south, who have sometimes not exchanged as much with Ukraine.”
“This allows Zelenskyy to express himself to powers of the world who at times are exposed to just one discourse,” Macron added, making reference to the upcoming summit of the Brics countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
After arriving on Saturday, Zelenskyy held bilateral talks with the G7 members as well as the leaders of India and South Korea.
“The continuing war in Ukraine is a huge problem for the entire world. India and I will do everything we can for a resolution,” said India’s prime minister Narendra Modi with Zelenskyy beside him.
It was the first time the two leaders had met since Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine last February. Modi, who was seated next to Zelenskyy during the final session at the summit, greeted the Ukrainian leader with a warm handshake and joked with him as members of the press were ushered out.
Later at the summit table, Modi also called for UN reform, noting the organisation was not able to take any effective action since Russia was a member of its Security Council, according to officials who witnessed the discussions.
A meeting with Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva proved to be more difficult. Zelenskyy ultimately left Japan without speaking directly to Lula, a leader who rolled out the red carpet for Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov during his visit to Brasília.
When asked whether he was disappointed that the meeting did not happen, Zelenskyy replied: “I think he [Lula] should be the one disappointed.” Macron even made a personal plea for Lula to take the meeting, according to one person briefed on their conversation.
But several Brazilian officials disputed the idea that Lula declined a meeting, saying a scheduling clash simply occurred. One said Lula had agreed to a meeting on Sunday at a time requested by Ukraine. The Brazilian team had even secured a Ukraine flag to display in the room in the Ana Crowne Plaza Hotel where the two leaders might come face to face. “We were available,” the Brazilian official said.
Kori Schake, head of foreign and defence policy at the American Enterprise Institute, said Zelenskyy’s attendance was important from a US domestic and an international perspective.
