ITALY: U.S. President Joe Biden met with leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies in Apuglia, Italy, aiming to address global economic security amid wars in Europe and the Middle East and U.S. rivalry with China.
The G7 leaders arrived at the luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia, the summit venue, welcomed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Meloni’s hard-right party took nearly 29% of the vote in last weekend’s European Parliament election, making her the only leader of a major Western European country to emerge from the ballots stronger.
Meanwhile, Biden is dealing with a contentious reelection campaign against Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump, and a personal ordeal.
On Tuesday, a day before departing for the summit, his son, Hunter, was found guilty on federal charges for possessing a gun while being addicted to drugs.
Still, Biden came to the summit hoping to convince the group to provide a $50 billion loan to Ukraine using interest from Russian frozen assets, and deal with Chinese overcapacity in strategic green technologies, including electric vehicles.
The European Union signaled their support by announcing duties on Chinese EVs a day ahead of the summit, a move that echoed the Biden administration’s steep tariff hike on Chinese EVs and other key sectors in May.
Biden is also lending his support to key themes in Meloni’s presidency – investing in Africa, international development, and climate change.
Those topics were covered in the opening session of the G7 on Thursday, followed by discussions on the Gaza and Ukraine wars.
(VOA)
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