HIROSHIMA, Japan -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived Saturday in Japan for talks with the leaders of the world's most powerful democracies, a personal appearance meant to galvanize global attention as the nations ratcheted up pressure on Moscow for its 15-month invasion.
Zelenskyy made a dramatic entry into Hiroshima, landing in a French plane after days in which Ukrainian and Japanese officials insisted, presumably for security reasons, that he would join the leaders at the Group of Seven summit only virtually. He was dressed in his signature hoodie, standing out from the coat-and-tie diplomatic crowd of this annual summit meeting.
Hours after Zelenskyy arrived in Japan, the Russian government said its forces had occupied the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. The city had become an important symbol of Ukrainian defiance and Russian determination, and its fall both bolsters and complicates Zelenskyy's appeal for help.
Zelenskyy, U.S. and British officials say, seems to sense that when he shows up in person, he can both break through U.S. resistance to sending more powerful weapons and pressure nations such as India and Brazil that have stayed on the sidelines.
His presence could make it more difficult for them to maintain their stance as fence-sitters, several officials said. And even as Zelenskyy consulted with countries already in his corner, he sat down with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was there as an observer, to make his case for support, much as he had done earlier in the week in Saudi Arabia.
"I think this is a unique opportunity" for Zelenskyy to have "exchanges with a lot of countries from the South and express your situation, express a message and share a view," President Emmanuel Macron of France said. "I do believe it can be a game changer."
A European Union official, speaking on condition of anonymity to brief reporters on the deliberations, said Zelenskyy will take part in two separate sessions today. One session will be with G7 members only and will focus on the war in Ukraine. Another will include the G7 as well as the other nations invited to take part in the summit, and will focus on "peace and stability."
Zelenskyy plans to go to the peace park that has been built on the island that was ground zero for the explosion in 1945 that ushered in the age of nuclear weapons -- an era that has returned amid episodic threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin to turn to his own arsenal.
Even before he landed, Zelenskyy had won a significant victory. President Joe Biden told other leaders late Friday he would join the largely European effort to train Ukrainian pilots on how to fly the F-16 fighter jet. Reversing his previous stance, Biden said he would work with allies to begin providing the warplanes to Ukraine, weaning it from its dilapidated Soviet-era fighters.
The green light on F-16 training is the latest shift by the Biden administration as it moves to arm Ukraine with more advanced and lethal weaponry after earlier decisions to send rocket launcher systems and Abrams tanks. The United States has insisted that it is sending weapons to Ukraine to defend itself and has discouraged attacks by Ukraine into Russian territory.
"We've reached a moment where it is time to look down the road again to say what is Ukraine going to need as part of a future force, to be able to deter and defend against Russian aggression as we go forward," U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
Biden's decisions on when, how many, and who will provide the fourth-generation F-16 fighter jets will be made in the months ahead while the training is underway, Biden told leaders.
LOOSE SANCTIONS
Much of the discussion in Hiroshima in the past two days has focused on cracking down on sanctions evasion, as countries seeking to play both sides of the war -- including India and the United Arab Emirates -- have done nothing to curtail a black market trade in semiconductors and materials needed by Russia to keep fighting the war.
The G7 leaders have rolled out a new wave of global sanctions on Moscow as well as plans to enhance the effectiveness of existing financial penalties meant to constrain Putin's war effort. Russia is now the most-sanctioned country in the world, but there are questions about the effectiveness.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized the G7 summit for aiming to isolate both China and Russia.
"The task has been set loudly and openly: to defeat Russia on the battlefield, but not to stop there, but to eliminate it as a geopolitical competitor. As a matter of fact, any other country that claims some kind of independent place in the world alignment will also be to suppress a competitor. Look at the decisions that are now being discussed and adopted in Hiroshima, at the G7 summit, and which are aimed at double containment of Russia and China," he said.
Russia had participated in some summits with the other seven countries before being removed from the then-Group of Eight after its 2014 annexation of Crimea.
This was the first time Zelenskyy has taken his diplomatic tour to Asia, and he landed late Saturday afternoon in the city known to the world for having resurrected itself in a monumental reconstruction task akin to what many believe Ukraine will have to undertake.
Zelenskyy's visit to Japan for the G7 meeting came after the trip to Saudi Arabia, in which he urged Arab leaders meeting there not to turn a "blind eye" to Russian atrocities in Ukraine.
The latest sanctions aimed at Russia include tighter restrictions on already-sanctioned people and firms involved in the war effort. More than 125 individuals and organizations across 20 countries have been hit with U.S. sanctions.
His appearance was arranged after Zelenskyy expressed a "strong desire" to participate in the summit face-to-face, Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The visit is the latest in a flurry of trips outside Ukraine to shore up support before an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The leaders -- besides Biden, they include the heads of government from Japan, Canada, Britain, France, Germany and Italy; and a top European Union official -- will be talking over the weekend about all dimensions of Russia's war in Ukraine. In addition to questions of when and how to provide Ukraine with the F-16 fighter jets, they may also discuss the possibility of negotiations over an armistice or peace treaty.
The G7 leaders have already pledged at the summit to toughen punishments on Russia and redouble efforts to choke off funding for its war.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni will skip the last day of the G7 because of floods last week in northern Italy, which claimed at least 14 lives and devastated dozens of hamlets and towns.
BIDEN HEADING HOME
Biden has cut short his trip in order to return to Washington for debt and spending talks. The president had planned to fly from Japan to Papua New Guinea, before heading to Sydney for a meeting of the so-called Quad: the United States, Australia, India and Japan.
Instead, Biden tried to reassure world leaders Saturday that the United States would not default as he consulted with the heads of those nations that had been hastily rescheduled.
The president also squeezed in meetings aimed at challenging China's buildout across the Indo-Pacific.
U.S. officials said Biden's trip to Australia would be rescheduled, and Biden has invited Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to Washington for a state visit.
Biden apologized for skipping Australia. Albanese said he understood the circumstances.
"I would have done exactly the same thing," he told Biden, adding, "I'm very much looking forward to the state visit."
The leaders signed a compact pledging to deepen their partnership on developing the raw materials used in clean energy technologies -- as they each seek to move supply away from reliance on China. They also issued a joint statement outlining new areas of cooperation in space, trade and defense.
During a full meeting in the evening with all of the Quad leaders, Biden repeated his apologies about needing to move their gathering to Japan.
The president is sending U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to fill his spot Monday at a summit of Pacific Island nations in Papua New Guinea. That presidential stop, too, was scrapped in order to get Biden back to Washington more quickly.
Biden's visit would have been the first by an American president to the country. Those countries are being aggressively courted by the U.S. and China as the two powers compete for influence in parts of the world where shipping lanes are vital.
In Hiroshima, Biden and other world leaders agreed on a shared framework for improving their own economic resilience -- a recognition that high levels of trade with China have become more of a risk than an opportunity for mature economies.
Sullivan said G7 leaders were acknowledging that "we do seek to cooperate with China on matters of mutual interest. And also that we will work to address our significant concerns that we have with China in a range of areas." He repeated a phrase often used by G7 leaders that the group is looking to "de-risk, not decouple from China."
Biden and first lady Jill Biden attended a dinner Saturday for G7 leaders and other officials who participated in the summit.
Information for this article was contributed by David Sanger and Peter Baker of The New York Times and by Foster Klug, Adam Schreck, Josh Boak, Zeke Miller, Elaine Kurtenbach, Mari Yamaguchi, Joanna Kozlowska and Kevin Freking of The Associated Press.
Gallery: Ukraine's Zelenskyy meets Group of Seven
