At the end of the summit, Zelensky meets with the Japanese prime minister.
Not long ago, we saw pictures of the President of Ukraine with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a Hiroshima memorial.
Now, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy has tweeted a bit more about his meeting with Kishida as the G7 summit draws to a close.
Ukraine’s president thanked Japan for the $7.6 billion financial aid package announced in April and its decision to accept Ukrainian soldiers as well as 100 trucks for treatment.
During the meeting, Zelensky briefed the prime minister on the frontline situation and the importance of maintaining Japanese sanctions on Russia, as well as Japanese investment and involvement in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
‘Zelenksi is good at asking for more’
What Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has got so good is constantly asking for more.
If you cast your mind back to January 2022, before the full-scale invasion, Ukraine was getting frustrated with countries like Germany and the US that were initially reluctant to provide lethal aid.
For example, they were getting helmets and military hospitals, and in the months since they’ve gotten long-range missiles, armored vehicles, tanks, and for a while it was thought that Fighter jets will be a moment away.
They are not so easy to come by and it is something that Zelensky has wanted for a long time.
But what US President Joe Biden has announced is that the US will help train Ukrainian pilots for the F-16 fighter jets, which Ukraine considers vital in the war.
But we are far from seeing them deployed on the battlefield.
What tanks and other equipment is the world giving to Ukraine?
NATO members have pledged to send more munitions to support Ukraine’s war effort against Russian aggression.
The United States is by far the largest military donor, followed by the United Kingdom and the European Union.
The US, UK and Germany are sending tanks, and Germany is allowing other Western countries to send German-made tanks from its fleet.
The United States and other NATO allies have pledged to help supply Ukraine with advanced fighter jets and train Ukrainian pilots to fly them.
Zelinsky is moving beyond his coalition.
President Zelensky’s presence grabbed the headlines from the moment he landed in Hiroshima.
British Prime Minister Rishi Singh called it a moment of “historic significance”. The French president called it a “game changer”. Indeed, the Ukrainian president standing shoulder-to-shoulder with G7 leaders at the center of the “family photo” sends a strong message.
The optics of this trip are as important as the closed-door meetings, and you’d be right to expect them to be.
Sometimes it’s easy to think that the whole world is against Russia and it’s military aggression against Ukraine.
While the G7 countries have shown unwavering solidarity and support for Ukraine and its president, other countries – including India – maintain close ties with Moscow.
At a time when the G7 has announced more sanctions against Russia to curb its revenue streams, India has maintained that it will continue to buy Russian oil – and a lot of it at that.
So, it is noteworthy to see President Zelensky engaging in conversation with the Indian Prime Minister – as uncomfortable as it may have been.
We are in the second year of the war against Ukraine and so far the support of the Western alliance has not waned.
But Ukrainian leaders know that this is a stage where they need to be physically present on the world stage whenever possible and to push their country’s cause beyond the sphere of their alliance. .
Even if that means sitting down with leaders of countries that have close ties to their country’s invaders.
And what did Zelensky say?
After President Biden held a press conference, it was Volodymyr Zelensky’s turn. He praised the host city of Hiroshima for showing solidarity with Ukraine.
What else Zelensky said:
- He claims that the besieged Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is “not under Russian control”.
- Images of Hiroshima, devastated after the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945, remind him of modern-day Bachmouth.
- He is “confident” that Ukraine will get F-16 fighter jets, but does not know how many
- Zelensky added that Russia will feel the Ukrainian retaliation when it comes.
