Ukraine invasion will be significant topic of conversation: Sullivan

WASHINGTON: The US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said that as the war in Kyiv continues to get intense, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will be a significant topic of conversation during the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

Responding to the media queries aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, Sullivan said, “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine looms large and will be a significant topic of conversation. There will be discussions about the state of play on the battlefield.”

“There will be discussions about the state of play on sanctions and the steps that the G7 will collectively commit to on enforcement in particular, making sure that we are shutting down evasion networks, closing loopholes in the sanctions so that the impact is amplified and magnified in the — in the months ahead,” he said during the press briefing.

Regarding the US President’s meeting with the QUAD leaders, who will also be present in Hiroshima for the G7 Summit, Sullivan stated, “President felt it was critical that he be at the G7 because this particular format is so central to getting alignment and convergence with key countries — including, by the way, the countries in the Quad, because both Australia and India will be in Hiroshima, and he will have the opportunity to engage with them there — that that was a vital part of the trip.”

US President Joe Biden recently cancelled his planned trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea.

“President Biden will return to the United States on Sunday, following the completion of the G7 summit, in order to be back for meetings with Congressional leaders to ensure that Congress takes action by the deadline to avert default. The President spoke to Prime Minister Albanese earlier today to inform him that he will be postponing his trip to Australia. He also invited the Prime Minister for an official state visit at a time to be agreed by the teams. The President’s team engaged with the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea’s team to inform them as well,” a statement by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, read.

Meanwhile, continuing with the press briefing, the US NSA on Biden’s visit to Hiroshima said that the US President would kickstart his Japan visit with a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

“The President will start his engagements in Hiroshima with a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Kishida, where they will review the really quite extraordinary progress in the alliance over the course of the past two years, building on the trip that President Kishida made to Washington in January,” Sullivan said.

The President will also co-host an event on the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, where “we will review the progress from the previous year, including some announcements of new investments and new deals,” Sullivan added.

He will also review a wider buildout of work with the private sector, including very senior private-sector representatives coming so that public investment is facilitating private investment to propel infrastructure development in the developing world, Sullivan added.

Earlier, John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, said that Biden would depart for Japan on Wednesday as scheduled, but a subsequent stop in Australia is being re-evaluated.

“We’re working through, thinking through, the rest of the trip right now,” Kirby had said, as he noted Biden would meet India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australia’s Anthony Albanese at the G7 anyway in Hiroshima, Japan.

“We’re re-evaluating the rest of the trip right now. We will make proper notifications if there are changes made to the rest of the trip. Given where we are right now, it’s also incredibly prudent and responsible for the President to take a look at the rest of the trip and evaluate whether it makes sense going forward,” said Kirby.

“We’ll see where it goes…We are going to reevaluate the rest of the week after the G7, and we’ll see where it goes. If the trip gets truncated or changed or modified in any way, it should be nothing more than a statement of the President putting his priorities where he believes they need to be,” said Kirby.