WASHINGTON- Leaders from the Group of Seven rich democracies and the NATO alliance will work to increase pressure on Russia over its war in Ukraine next week, while underscoring their continued concerns about China, senior US officials said on Wednesday.
President Joe Biden leaves Saturday to meet with other G7 leaders in southern Germany before heading to Madrid for a summit where NATO is expected to announce plans to expand its forces in eastern Europe and Washington will lay out steps to strength European security.
Inclusion, for the first time, of leaders from Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand in the NATO summit was aimed at showing that the war in Ukraine has not detracted from Western nations’ focus on China, the officials said.
G7 leaders, meeting at an alpine castle an hour south of Munich on June 26-28, are also expected to address China’s “coercive economic practices,” which have become even more aggressive in recent years, one of the officials said.
“Russia’s war against Ukraine has galvanized our partnerships around the world,” a second official said. “It’s also showing how Ukraine is not causing us to take our eye off the ball on China. In fact, quite the opposite.” – Reuters
