Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took center stage at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima over the weekend, meeting with leaders of leading and emerging economies alike over the course of 30 hours to court global support against Russia.
Zelenskyy first reached out to Japan in April about attending the summit in person, kicking off secret discussions in Tokyo on measures needed to protect a wartime leader while in Japan.
“We can’t refuse his offer,” a senior Japanese official told Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the time. Kishida agreed.
Kishida gave the final go-ahead in early May, according to sources close to him. Some in the Japanese government were wary of the idea. But Kishida insisted on moving forward, saying he would “take on all of the risk.”
Despite intense fighting back home, Zelenskyy made the roughly 9,000-kilometer trip partly to woo leaders from emerging economies also participating in the G-7 summit. These countries include ones that have close economic ties with Russia and have taken a neutral stance on the invasion of Ukraine.
For emerging and developing countries of the Global South, whether they side with Moscow — or with Kyiv and the West — often comes down to where their own top leaders stand. Zelenskyy saw direct engagement with these leaders as the key to winning them over and squeezing Russian war efforts.
Before the G-7 summit, Zelenskyy attended the Arab League Summit in Jeddah on Friday. He gave a speech there drawing parallels between Ukraine and Arab nations that have suffered recent conflicts and urged the grouping to stand with Kyiv.
“And I am more than sure that none of you will agree to surrender a third of your country to the invaders,” he said.
At Hiroshima, Zelenskyy’s first meeting outside of G-7 leaders was with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who views himself as the leader of the Global South. India has recently ramped up energy imports from Russia, Still, Modi promised during the talks that he would do whatever he could to resolve the conflict.
Zelenskyy also spoke with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and urged his support for the Ukrainian peace plan, including a complete withdrawal of Russian troops.
He did not meet with Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, citing scheduling issues. Lula recently has appeared to side more with Beijing and Moscow, likely pushing the meeting lower down Zelenskyy’s priority list.
From left to right, U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pose for a photo at the Group of Seven summit on May 21. (Pool photo/Reuters)In Hiroshima, Zelenskyy also aimed to deepen Ukraine’s ties with the G-7 advanced economies in order to secure more assistance in his war effort.
Zelenskyy requested French help to fly to Hiroshima. “A plane in the colours of the French Republic has arrived in Hiroshima,” President Emmanuel Macron tweeted after Zelenskyy landed, highlighting France’s role in making the trip a reality.
The push came as Macron signaled a separate path from the U.S. on China, including through his trip to Beijing in April. China has remained close with Russia, and there was concern that Macron could take a more conciliatory stance on Moscow as well.
“By choosing a French plane instead of an American one, Zelenskyy appealed to Macron’s pride and gave him a chance to shine,” a diplomatic source said. “He wanted to get France on board with a tougher line on Russia.”
Zelenskyy was then driven out of the airport in a bulletproof BMW. Though the vehicle itself was provided by the Japanese government, the choice of the German brand symbolized Kyiv’s cooperation with Berlin.
After arriving at the summit venue of Ujina Island, Zelenskyy headed into meetings with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Both are known for hawkish stances on Russia, even compared with other Western counterparts.
Sunak played a key role in persuading the U.S. to let its European allies transfer American F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. On Sunday, Zelenskyy told reporters that G-7 nations have agreed to provide “high-quality weapons.”
The Ukrainian leader was also careful to consider public opinion in summit host Japan. He visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum with Kishida as part of the trip, writing in its guest book that there is no place for nuclear threats in the modern world.
No country should suffer such pain and destruction, Zelenskyy wrote.
“The pictures of destroyed Hiroshima look exactly like the pictures of Bakhmut,” he said in a speech afterward. He likened the children who experienced the atomic bombing in Hiroshima to those suffering from the war in Ukraine today and said everyone in the world has a duty to defend justice.
Zelenskyy stressed his success at Hiroshima in a video message from his flight out on Sunday.
“The world hears our position,” he said.
