Jacques Serais (special envoy to Japan), edited by Corentin Alloune / Photo credit: Xose Bouzas / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
modified to
9:01 p.m., May 19, 2023
Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, is at the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia on Friday. He is expected in Japan, in Hiroshima, for the G7 Summit in the coming days where he will meet the heads of member states. And France would not be there for nothing.
In the entourage of Emmanuel Macron, we quietly welcome the arrival of the Ukrainian president at the G7 Summit in Japan. This trip is “very important”, soberly comments a French diplomatic source. France, without saying so officially, plays an important role in the visit to Japan of the Ukrainian president. Leaving Poland, Volodymyr Zelensky landed in Saudi Arabia aboard a plane bearing the French Republic logo. And even if on the Élysée side, no one ventures to confirm it, it is probably aboard this same French aircraft that he will embark for Hiroshima, in Japan.
Unlike an intervention by videoconference, as was initially planned, Volodymyr Zelensky will have the opportunity to exchange directly with the Heads of State and Government. And not with just anyone. It will be addressed to the leaders of the member states of the G7: United States, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan, but not only.
“We can assume that Zelensky will meet them”
Other countries are present at this summit. Eight countries invited on the sidelines of the event, including India, Brazil and Indonesia. These emerging countries which have so far not formally condemned the Russian invasion. “We can assume that Volodymyr Zelensky will meet them,” observes a French diplomatic source with restraint.