G7 leaders aranging virtual summit on Dec 13 over Russia, Middle East

According to Japanese government and diplomatic sources, the Group of Seven countries are planning to hold a virtual summit on December 13 to talk about the Middle East situation and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is expected to attend the meeting, which takes place before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January. Trump has questioned the value of multilateral frameworks like the G7.

Next year, Italy will relinquish the group’s rotating presidency to Canada. Trump, who was president of the United States at the time, criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and retracted his support for a joint statement when Canada hosted the G7 summit in 2018.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the G7 has imposed a spate of sanctions to hit Moscow’s war chest while remaining united in support of Kyiv.

The leaders of the G7, comprising Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the United States plus the European Union, held an in-person meeting in June in Fasano, southern Italy.