Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is due to welcome the leaders of the six other major industrialized democracies to the city marked by nuclear destruction in 1945 and now home to many monuments for peace.

US President Joe Biden, who arrived in Japan on Thursday afternoon, was confronted even before his departure with a political crisis over US debt, which forced him to cancel the next stages of his Asia-Pacific tour (Papua New Guinea and Australia).

The invasion of Ukraine launched by Russia 15 months ago will dominate the agenda, with "discussions about the state of the battlefield," said US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

US President Joe Biden (l) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (r), during a meeting before the G7 summit, on May 18, 2023 in Hiroshima © Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP

The United States and its allies have stepped up arms shipments to Ukraine, whose President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to attend the summit by video conference.

Nuclear disarmament

According to Sullivan, the talks should focus on tightening sanctions against Moscow that have led to a contraction of the Russian economy in the first quarter of 2023.

According to an official of the European Union, an organization that participates in the G7, the heads of state and government will also discuss sanctions against the trade in Russian diamonds.

"We think we should limit Russian exports in this sector," the official said, declining to give a timetable and adding that it was unlikely that the G7 would reach a final agreement in Japan.

Putin's repeated threats to turn the war in Ukraine into a nuclear conflict have been roundly condemned by G7 leaders and are seen by some observers as an attempt to shake the resolve of Europeans and Americans.

The leaders' planned visit to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is expected to highlight these threats, where on August 6, 1945, the city was largely destroyed by an American atomic bomb, killing 140,000 people.

The dome of the atomic bomb at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial on May 18, 2023 in Japan © LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP

Kishida, whose family is originally from Hiroshima and who is himself elected there, wants to use the summit to encourage his guests, including the United Kingdom, France and the United States, which together possess thousands of nuclear warheads, to commit to transparency about their stockpiles and reduce their arsenals.

Many military and diplomatic leaders, including six former heads of state, also urged nuclear powers on Wednesday to set aside tensions and negotiate arms control measures.

But amid heightened tensions with other nuclear powers Russia, North Korea and China, hopes for progress in this area are slim.

"Economic coercion"

The G7 should also devote a large part of its discussions to China, and in particular to how to protect itself from possible economic blackmail by Beijing, by diversifying production and supply chains, while the Chinese government has shown willingness to use trade barriers.

Sullivan said G7 leaders should denounce this "economic coercion" and work to overcome transatlantic differences over the stance on China.

Global © nuclear arsenal / AFP

But European countries, especially France and Germany, are keen to ensure that eliminating risks does not mean severing ties with China, one of the world's largest markets.

It is "not an anti-Chinese G7", insisted the Elysee ahead of the summit, hoping for "a positive message" of cooperation "provided that we negotiate together".

Japan has also invited eight third countries, including major emerging economies such as India and Brazil, to Hiroshima in an attempt to rally some reluctant leaders to oppose Russia's war in Ukraine and Beijing's growing military ambitions.

© 2023 AFP