Wars in Gaza, Ukraine loom over G7 summit as Trudeau heads to Italy
CBC
The prime minister travels to Italy today to meet with world leaders as wars in Gaza and Ukraine cast a shadow over this year's G7 summit.
"This is a moment of real uncertainty," said Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and an international affairs professor at the University of Ottawa. "Uncertainty about the future of Ukraine, uncertainty about the fate of democracy.
"So it's really important for these leaders to come together and demonstrate that they can do something in response to these challenges."
The annual international forum brings together seven of the world's advanced economies — Canada, the U.S., the U.K, Italy, France, Germany and Japan — and the European Union for informal group conversations and one-on-one talks.
The three-day summit that starts Thursday is particularly significant this year, Paris said, because there is "much more competition and disagreement in the world" and many global institutions are no longer working "very effectively."
Many observers say the G7 could project an image of unity by finding a new way to fund Ukraine's ongoing fight against Russia.
But G7 leaders could also struggle to come to a consensus on the conflict in Gaza, which could overshadow the official agenda, said Thomas Juneau, an associate professor in the department of political science at the University of Ottawa.
"It will be a bit difficult because there is a number of divergences of views between Europeans and the Americans in particular, but even within Europe," said Juneau. "It will definitely be a challenge for the G7 not to be derailed in some ways by what's going to happen in Gaza."
Italy is hosting this G7 summit in the seaside city of Apulia. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said both conflicts will be key priorities for the summit. Italy also has placed artificial intelligence and development in Africa on the G7 agenda, and has invited several African countries to send observers.
India, Argentina and Brazil are expected to attend outreach meetings at the Apulia summit, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
A Canadian government official said Friday work is underway to provide more support to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets.
After a long delay in equipment donations to Ukraine, it's gotten "grim" on the battlefield, said Dave Perry, president and CEO of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
Ukraine is losing some territory in the eastern part of the country as "Russians make a push" that's been "relatively successful," he said. Ukraine urgently needs more armoured vehicles, tanks, training, drones and munitions, Perry added.
"They literally need more of everything," he said.
