Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to travel to Italy on June 12 to participate in the annual Group of Seven (G7) leaders’ summit.
Furthermore, Mr. Trudeau will be participating in the Ukraine Peace Summit scheduled for June 15 and June 16 before returning to Ottawa.
The G7 comprises Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Japan. These leaders convene annually to work together on common objectives.
In addition to the G7 members, the president of the European Council and the president of the European Commission representing the European Union will also be in attendance. Various states and international organizations invited by the host nation, Italy, will join the sessions.
This year’s discussions will focus on six key themes: Africa, climate change and development, the Middle East, Ukraine, migration, the Indo-Pacific, and economic security.
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Key priorities for Canada at the summit include the clean energy transition, combating misinformation and foreign interference, and promoting artificial intelligence. Bilateral meetings between Mr. Trudeau and other world leaders are expected.
Canada is slated to host the G7 summit next year.
As the host country this year, Italy aims to center the summit around the defense of the “rules-based international system.”
Italy stated on its G7 website, “Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine has undermined its principles and triggered growing instability, with multiple crises unfolding worldwide.” The conflict in the Middle East and its global repercussions will also receive significant attention.
One of the highly anticipated outcomes of the summit could be a decision on utilizing frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine. Recently, G7 finance ministers made progress in agreeing to a U.S. proposal to allocate more funds for Ukraine from Russian assets frozen in their respective countries.
Following the G7 summit, the Ukraine Peace Summit hosted by Switzerland will take place.
Switzerland’s president Viola Amherd announced on June 10 that nearly 90 countries and organizations, half of them from Europe, have confirmed their participation.
Notably, Russia will not be part of the summit, which was arranged at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
