The meeting between Albanese and Biden followed Washington’s offer to train Ukrainian pilots on American-made F-16 fighter jets as Kyiv prepares to launch a new offensive against Russian forces.
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The rescheduled Quad meeting between the US, Australia, Japan and India, due to take place in Hiroshima on Saturday at 9pm AEST is expected to focus more on threats to regional and global security.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Saturday that the US will work with allies “to determine when planes will be delivered, who will be delivering them and how many”.
NATO countries are increasing their supply of weapons to Kyiv dwindle on the eve of the European summer as the war in Ukraine enters a new phase.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to arrive in Hiroshima on Sunday.
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The visit from the Ukrainian leader will be the highest-profile overseas trip taken by Zelensky since the start of the war last year.
Russia launched its ninth wave of missile strikes at the Ukrainian capital on Saturday.
“Fifteen months of Russia’s aggression has cost thousands of lives, inflicted immense suffering on the people of Ukraine, and imperilled access to food and energy for many of the world’s most vulnerable people,” the G7 leaders said in a joint statement after announcing fresh economic restrictions and arms commitments for Kyiv.
“Our support for Ukraine will not waver.”
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has used the war in Ukraine to sharpen the focus of the world’s leaders on the potential for future conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
The bilateral was the sixth meeting between the leaders since Albanese became prime minister in May last year.Credit: Christopher Jue
The G7’s foreign and security policy meeting on Friday night focussed on the Indo-Pacific and ongoing threats to the democratic island of Taiwan.
“Any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force is unacceptable anywhere in the world,” said Kishida.
China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday night defended Beijing’s relationship with Moscow.
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“China always opposes unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction that have no basis in international law or mandate from the Security Council,” said spokesman Wang Wenbin.
“China has always carried out normal economic and trade cooperation with Russia and other countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.”
The G7 leaders, which includes the US, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom said they exchanged views on the situation in the Asia-Pacific and said they would work together to respond to threats from China and North Korea.
A final communiqué issued on Sunday is expected to condemn China’s use of economic coercion, and promote peace across the Taiwan Strait as an “indispensable” part of global security – finalising a significant upgrade in diplomatic and military concerns over the future of Taiwan.
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