President Joe Biden opened the G7 summit in Italy with a warm greeting to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whom he kissed on the head and gave her a strange greeting.
Biden was the last of the world leaders to arrive, landing in the Italian region of Apulia on Wednesday evening.
The two shared a long greeting, shaking hands and hugging.
At one point, Biden even raised his hand in a half-hearted salute to his counterpart, who will host this year’s confab as the rotating head of the gathering.
The Italian Prime Minister had to wait for Biden’s arrival, after greeting other leaders. He seemed to adapt his greetings to the personalities and cultural expectations of his guests.
The Italian greeted the German Olaf Schultz and the Japanese Fumio Kishida in a more traditional way, while he hugged the Frenchman Emmanuel Macron for a long time.
Once Biden was downstairs, he slowly walked down the short steps to join other leaders for a group photo.
(It was at a similar event, the G20 in Hiroshima, where Biden nearly stumbled.)
The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, received President Joe Biden at the beginning of the G7 summit, which is being held in the Apulia region.
The greetings come at an event in which Meloni was uniquely strengthened by the European Parliament elections, with Biden and several others fighting at home.
Among those in greatest danger within the beleaguered group is British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who had a long greeting with Meloni and who could lose power in a matter of weeks in early elections he called.
Biden faces his own electoral challenges. She trails Republican Donald Trump nationally and in key state polls, with a dangerously low approval rating. And while her rival was convicted in Manhattan in the Stormy Daniels case, Biden’s son Hunter was convicted in Delaware on Tuesday on weapons charges.
Leaders still have details to finalize on the agenda.
Biden is close to signing an agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky aimed at committing the United States to a decade of military support, a move that could put pressure on his rival Donald Trump if he wins the White House.
At one point the president kissed the Italian leader on the head
Meloni took a moment to take a selfie
Biden joins business meetings, but is not expected at dinner on Thursday night.
Meloni surprised some of his critics by endorsing European support for Ukraine even after campaigning on a right-wing platform.
Meloni’s position was strengthened by the victories of the conservative party in the European parliamentary elections.
Swan song: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (left) faces snap elections within weeks
Meloni gave stage directions not only to Biden but to other leaders after greeting them.
The move is a key “product” of Biden’s G7 meetings set to begin in the Italian region of Apulia on Thursday. The president arrived last night and met in person with Zelensky before the two leaders held a joint press conference on Thursday evening local time.
“We want to demonstrate that the United States stands with the people of Ukraine, that we stand with them and that we will continue to help address their security needs not only tomorrow but into the future,” said White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. reporters aboard Air Force One en route to the annual conference.
“This is a big problem,” he added Thursday. He called it “a true indicator of our commitment, not just for this month, this year, but for many years to come, to continue to support Ukraine, both in defending against Russian aggression and in deterring future aggression.”
The bilateral agreement would not have the force of a treaty ratified by the US Senate, so Biden or any successor could withdraw from it.
But it would still represent a barrier should Biden’s Republican successor retake the White House. It is one of several efforts being considered in Congress to try to “protect Trump” from elements of the established order.
It comes after Biden was able to push through a $60 billion measure to help Ukraine after overcoming prolonged opposition from Republican lawmakers in Congress. Trump heads to the Capitol on Thursday to meet with Republicans who currently control the House and are in position to potentially take control of the Senate in the November elections.
Trump’s tenure in the White House was marked by an angry impeachment clash triggered in part by a split within his administration over withholding military aid to Ukraine amid accusations of corruption in the country by Trump’s allies. Trump.
Moscow launched its latest invasion of Ukraine in 2022, dramatically escalating its 2014 invasion of the Donbas region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with Biden on Thursday
Biden’s visit will include a meeting with Pope Francis on Friday
Another agreement that emerged from the G7 meetings is an agreement to give Ukraine a $50 billion loan amid its territorial losses to Russian forces.
The money comes from interest on $300 million in seized Russian assets and avoids opposition within the alliance to the use of those funds.
Details were still being worked out, and administration officials were reluctant to confirm earlier reports about the broad outlines of the deal. But the funds could reach kyiv by the end of the year.
Sullivan told reporters Thursday morning that progress was likely, but stopped short of offering assurances on Russian sovereign assets and other issues.
“I think we’re set up for success in that regard…we’ll have to see how the next couple of days play out,” he said.
Sullivan stopped short of promising immediate success. He said it would not happen today and that leaders were “on the brink of a good outcome”.
“I think we will have the main points of this decided,” he said, although some of the details have yet to be resolved.
The diplomatic work through an arcane financial architecture comes at a summit where Biden and his fellow G7 leaders will meet in an elegant medieval-style village in Borgo Egnazia (although the local police protecting them complained about dirty water and broken mattresses on the ‘Goddess of the Night’ tour). ship that has been hosting them.
All of Hunter Biden’s children will accompany the president on the trip, which comes as the family is still processing Hunter’s guilty verdict and Biden has yet to speak publicly about it.