Leaders of the world’s most powerful democracies will be joined at the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Japan on Sunday by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The surprise addition was confirmed Friday in a joint leadership statement, AP reports.
“Our support for Ukraine will not waver,” the G7 leaders said after closed-door meetings, vowing “to stand together against Russia’s illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.”
“Russia started this war and can end this war,” they asserted.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, confirmed on national television that Zelensky would add the summit to his busy schedule of overseas visits.
Zelensky recently made a surprise visit to London as he seeks more funds to prosecute the war against Russia while using every avenue available – including a failed plea to the recent Eurovision Song Contest – to make public his calls for support.
“We were sure that our president would be where Ukraine needed him, in any part of the world, to solve the issue of stability of our country,” Danilov said Friday. “There will be very important matters decided there, so physical presence is a crucial thing to defend our interests.”
Zelensky on Friday flew into Saudi Arabia where Arab leaders were holding a separate summit.
The previously unannounced visit is Zelensky’s first to the Middle East since Moscow’s invasion in February 2022 although he has a crowded global schedule of visits to leaders from a host of allied countries.
British PM Rishi Sunak (L) welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (R) at the Chequers, the prime minister’s official country residence in Aylesbury, United Kingdom on May 15, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
U.S. President Joe Biden (R) welcomes President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on December 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
It gives the Ukrainian leader an opportunity to address leaders in the region that has been far less united in its support of Kyiv than staunch Western allies.
“Arrived in Saudi Arabia. I will speak at the Arab League summit,” Zelensky said on Twitter, adding he plans to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other leaders.