Biden to attend G7 summit in Hiroshima; war in Ukraine, climate crisis on agenda

US President Joe Biden will attend the G7 leaders’ summit in Hiroshima, Japan, from May 19-21, the White House announced Tuesday.

On the agenda will be the war in Ukraine, global food and climate crises, and “securing inclusive and resilient economic growth,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

The leaders of the G7 — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — are meeting at the site of the world’s first nuclear attack, with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida having said he hopes to make nuclear disarmament a key plank of discussions.

Biden will also attend a Quad leaders’ summit in Sydney, Australia on May 24, according to the statement, bringing together the United States, Australia, Japan and India.

The leaders will discuss how they can “deepen their cooperation on critical and emerging technologies, high-quality infrastructure, global health, climate change, maritime domain awareness, and other issues,” Jean-Pierre said.

The meeting of the Quad, which positions itself as a bulwark against China’s military ambitions in Asia and the Pacific, comes amid heightened tensions in the region, particularly between Washington and Beijing.