Lula arrives in Japan for the G7 Summit

Lula government

Since 2009, Brazil has not attended a meeting of the group

Hiroshima (Japan) – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has already landed in Hiroshima, Japan, where he is participating in the external engagement segment of the G7 Summit, a meeting of leaders from seven of the world’s largest economies: the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Canada. The presidential delegation arrived in the Asian country a little ahead of schedule, in the early afternoon of Thursday (18), early on Friday (19) at local time.

This is the seventh time that Lula participates as a guest at the G7 meeting. The six previous participations took place in the first two mandates, between 2003 and 2009. Since then, Brazil has not attended a meeting of the group.

In addition to Brazil, the leaders of India, Indonesia, Australia, Cook Islands, Comoros, South Korea, Vietnam and representatives of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the Organization for Cooperation and Development were also invited. (OECD), the International Energy Agency, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the European Union.

Lula will be present at three thematic sessions of the G7 with the invited countries and organizations, when they will discuss contemporary challenges, such as food security, health, gender and democracy; on environmental issues, coping with climate change and energy transition; and on peace, prosperity and development.

The war between Russia and Ukraine will also be on the table during the summit. The theme is one of the priorities for Lula, who is trying to organize a group of neutral countries to negotiate a peace agreement. The Brazilian government is working to ensure that one of the G7’s final declarations reflects Brazil’s view of the war and believes that there must be a consensus on food security.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia began in February 2022 and has already left thousands dead and refugees, in addition to impacting the global production and distribution of food and energy.

The president also already has seven bilateral meetings confirmed, with the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese; Indonesian President Joko Widodo; the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida; French President Emmanuel Macron; the Prime Minister of Germany, Olaf Scholz; the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Pham Minh Chinh; and the UN Secretary General, António Guterres.

The only commitment this Friday, at 5 pm (5 am in Brasilia time), is the meeting with the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese.

On the agenda for the 20th and 21st are the remaining bilateral meetings and the G7 sessions.

The flight back to Brazil is scheduled for the morning of Monday (22), Sunday night at Brasilia time.

*With information from Agência Brasil

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