Summit Weekend in Europe: "unchallenged American leadership"; Ukraine & G-7 aim to learn history's lesson: "giving up territory for peace" only invites more aggression; Bill Browder knighted in UK
NYT: “Western Anxiety Makes for an Unexpectedly Smooth G7 Summit”
The Group of 7 summit that ended on Saturday went extraordinarily smoothly by the standards of a gathering where the leaders of major powers come together.
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President Biden may appear politically vulnerable and uncertain of re-election, but this summit meeting was another example of unchallenged American leadership of the West, especially on contentious issues of war and peace.
With the main headlines about new support for Ukraine — a $50 billion injection built on the money earned from frozen Russian assets, and long-term security pacts with Ukraine signed by the United States and Japan — this gathering was just the first in a series intended to bolster President Volodymyr Zelensky in the war against Russia.
It is followed this weekend by a so-called peace summit in Switzerland that aims to show that Ukraine has global support and is willing to negotiate on fair terms with Russia, even though Moscow has not been invited. Then, NATO holds its 75th anniversary summit meeting in Washington in mid-July.
While Ukraine will not receive an invitation to begin membership talks with NATO, the alliance, led by the United States, is preparing what Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has called “a bridge to membership” — a coordinated package of long-term military and financial support for Kyiv that some have likened to a diplomatic and military “mission.”
It’s all aimed at trying to persuade Ukrainians and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia that his attempts to subordinate the country will not succeed.
“These summits have become easier to manage as the geopolitical situation has gotten worse,” said Jeremy Shapiro, research director of the European Council on Foreign Relations and an American former diplomat. “It will be the same at the NATO summit. Everyone is nervous and sees greater benefit in unity and in American leadership.”
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But the message on Ukraine was the most important, trying to convince Mr. Putin that “you can’t wait us out,” as Charles A. Kupchan, an American former official and professor of international affairs at Georgetown University, put it.
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“A key element of Western strategy is to have an effective transition from the United States leading that support to Europe picking up the baton,” Niblett added. The message to Mr. Putin, he said, is “maybe Ukraine can’t push you out, but you can’t win.”
NYT: “It’s Not Just Russia: China Joins the G7’s List of Adversaries”
Throughout the Group of 7 summit meeting in Puglia, China has been the lurking presence: as the savior of “Russia’s war machine,” in the words of the summit’s final communiqué; as an intensifying threat in the South China Sea; and as a wayward economic actor, dumping electric cars in Western markets and threatening to withhold critical minerals needed by high-tech industries.
In total, there are 28 references to China in the final communiqué, almost all of them describing Beijing as a malign force.
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But it was China’s support of Russia that constituted a new element at this year’s summit, and perhaps changed minds in Europe.
“Xi, it seems, will not abandon his troublesome Russian partner or even pay lip service to aiding Kyiv,” Mr. Gabuev wrote in Foreign Affairs on Friday. “Instead, China has chosen a more ambitious, but also risker, approach. It will continue to help Moscow and sabotage Western-led peace proposals. It hopes to then swoop in and use its leverage over Russia to bring both parties to the table in an attempt to broker a lasting agreement.”
BBC: “Peace talks tomorrow if Russia leaves Ukraine, says Zelensky”
Kyiv will hold peace talks with Russia tomorrow if Moscow pulls out of all Ukrainian territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
But speaking at the close of a summit for peace in Switzerland, he said Russian President Vladimir Putin would not end the war and had to be stopped "in any way we can", whether by military or diplomatic means.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas at the Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland:
History has proved that giving up territory for peace has too often led and will lead to further aggressions. We must learn from our mistakes, or face a colossal human cost globally.
UK Independent: “Sir Bill Browder: King’s birthday honour is for those killed for opposing Putin and those fighting against him”
Newly-knighted human rights activist Bill Browder has dedicated his honour to the Russian dissidents killed simply for opposing Vladimir Putin, as he vows to free those that have been imprisoned for keeping up the fight against the autocrat.
The US-born financier has been knighted in the King’s Birthday Honours after years of lobbying governments to introduce sanctions against human rights violators and kleptocrats.
I was asked by @TimesRadio how do I celebrate being knighted by the King. The simple answer is to use the benefits of knighthood in my work to help free Vladimir Kara-Murza and help Ukraine fight back against Russia.