G7 Summit 2024 Live Updates: Italy PM Georgia Meloni says EU states won't be directly involved in G7 Ukraine loan

Since taking office in 2022, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has proved a pragmatic partner on major international issues, assuaging fears she would be a dogmatic conservative unwilling to compromise.

But at the Group of Seven summit that she hosted in southern Italy this week, Meloni showed she had some red lines dear to her nationalist camp that she was ready to fight for, especially issues relating to the family and reproduction rights.

In the build-up to the June 13-15 summit, attention had been firmly focused on securing a deal on a multibillion-dollar loan for Ukraine, using frozen Russian assets, and creating ways to level the playing field in trade with China.

Broad consensus was found on both issues and hailed as proof of Western unity in the face of global challenges.

Then, out of the blue, diplomats revealed that Italy had demanded the removal of specific reference to "safe and legal abortion" from the final G7 statement and also wanted to water down language on vaccination funding.

Despite being isolated, Meloni largely got her way on both issues, using Italy's position as rotating president of the wealthy nation club to lead the negotiations where it wanted, diplomats who followed the discussions told Reuters.

Italian far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, host of the G7 summit, on Saturday denied there had been a row over the exclusion of the word abortion from a leaders' statement.

Leaders of the Group of Seven rich democracies last year committed to addressing "access to safe and legal abortion", in a statement after a summit in Hiroshima in Japan.

But that reference did not appear in the final statement agreed at this year's summit in Italy's Puglia -- with diplomats blaming Meloni.

"The controversy has been constructed in a totally contrived manner, the polemic did not exist in the summit... because there was nothing to quarrel about," she insisted at an end-of-summit press conference.

The G7 includes the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United States and Italy.

Their final statement reiterated "commitments in the Hiroshima leaders' communique to universal access to adequate, affordable, and quality health services for women, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights for all".

Meloni said that "usually in these documents, to avoid making them unnecessarily repetitive when something is repeated, they refer to the previous documents".

"Things that are already taken for granted are not repeated verbatim," she added.

European Union states won't be directly involved for now in a $50 billion loan that the Group of Seven nations plan to raise for Ukraine based on income from frozen Russian assets, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday.

Europe was already contributing by providing guarantee mechanisms for the loan, Meloni said, adding that the United States, Canada, Britain and probably Japan would contribute.

After flying through the night across nine time zones, from southern Italy to Southern California, President Joe Biden is shifting his focus from Russia's challenge of Western unity to raking in big money for his reelection campaign at a Hollywood fundraiser featuring George Clooney and Julia Roberts.

Biden went straight from the Group of Seven summit of wealthy democracies, where Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine took center stage, to Los Angeles and the glitzy gathering unfolding Saturday night at the Peacock Theater. The journey was only broken up by a layover to refuel outside Washington.

Former President Barack Obama is joining headliners Clooney and Roberts, and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel will interview all of them onstage. In a text message to donors beforehand, Roberts called it “a crucial time in the election.” Kimmel wrote in his own text that presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump “will hate this, so let’s do it.”

Luminaries from the entertainment world have increasingly lined up to help Biden's campaign, hoping to provide a fundraising jolt and to energize would-be supporters to turn out ahead of Election Day against Trump.

But hobnobbing with stars this time means Biden is skipping a summit in Switzerland about ways to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Vice President Kamala Harris is representing the United States.

The Group of Seven rich democracies have failed to deliver significant new progress on climate during a summit in Italy, instead reiterating previous commitments, experts and activists said.

"The G7 leaders could have stayed at home. No new commitments were made," said Friederike Roeder, vice president at Global Citizen.

The leaders meeting in Puglia confirmed a pledge by their environment ministers in April "to phase out existing unabated coal power generation in our energy systems during the first half of 2030s".

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shared a video with PM Modi on X with caption 'Hi friends, from #Melodi' recorded during the G7 Summit held in Italy's Apulia. "Hello from the Melodi team," said Meloni as both leaders were seen laughing in the short clip.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni clicked a selfie with PM Modi on the sidelines of the G7 Summit held in Italy's Apulia. Earlier, in December last year, Meloni and Modi's selfie went viral after Italian PM shared it with the caption 'Good friends at COP28' with #Melodi on X during COP28 summit in Dubai.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 50th Summit of Group of 7, or G7 Summit that took place in Italy between June 13 and 14. G7 is a group of nations comprising the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Germany, France and Canada, with the European Union (EU) being its non-enumerated member. Represented by PM Modi, India was invited as an outreach country.

In his address on the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI), at the G7 leaders' Summit in Italy, Pope Francis called for a prohibition on 'lethal autonomous weapons', according to Al Jazeera.

He warned the leaders assembled in the southern Italian area that "artificial intelligence [is] both a fascinating and terrifying technology. We would commit humanity to a hopeless future if we removed people's freedom to make judgements about themselves and their life, forcing them to rely on the choices of machines."

Pope Francis, 87, was notably the first head of the Roman Catholic Church to ever attend a Group of Seven meeting.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Italy on the sidelines of the G7 Summit here on Friday night.https://x.com/narendramodi/status/1801667581155361262In a post on X, PM Modi said, "Pleased to meet the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, in Italy."Earlier, PM Modi met also US President Joe Biden and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the G7 Summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with Japanese PM Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit in Apulia, Italy and discussed the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project with a targeted 5 trillion yen worth of investment in India.https://x.com/PMOIndia/status/1801695071609438487Highlighting India-Japan relations, the Prime Minister's office said on X, "Boosting India-Japan relations! PM @narendramodi held a productive bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister @kishida230 in Italy on the sidelines of the G7 Summit."They also talked about strengthening business, people-to-people, and government-to-government relations, as well as trade opportunities.

Describing his stint at the G7 Summit in Italy as "very productive," Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed for New Delhi in the early hours of Saturday.The G7 summit was held in Italy's Apulia region, where India was invited by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as an 'Outreach Country'."Had a very productive day at the G7 Summit in Apulia. Interacted with world leaders and discussed various subjects. Together, we aim to create impactful solutions that benefit the global community and create a better world for future generations," PM Modi wrote in a post on X, after concluding the visit.

President Joe Biden and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had a lot to talk about Friday when they met on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit, but one notable matter wasn't on the table: abortion, an issue that emerged as an unexpected friction point among the democracies gathered in Italy.Meloni’s right-wing government this week worked to water down references to abortion in the final statement issued by all the G7 nations at the end of the summit, prompting a disagreement between nations over language in the final draft of their shared commitments. That is according to two senior U.S. officials, a senior European Union official and two other officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to talk about the discussions over the statement that were not made public.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday left for home after concluding his day-long visit to Italy during which he attended the G7 summit and held bilaterals with several world leaders including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and Pope Francis.In an address at an Outreach session of the G7 summit in Italy's Apulia region, Modi called for ending the monopoly in technology and said it must be made creative to lay the foundation of an inclusive society.The prime minister spoke extensively on the importance of ending monopoly in technology with a particular emphasis on artificial intelligence. Modi said India is among the first few countries to formulate a national strategy on artificial intelligence.

Calling for efforts to ensure that the benefits of technology reach all sections of society, unleashing the potential of every individual and helping eliminate social inequalities, PM Narendra Modi said at the G7 summit that the global community must turn monopoly in technology into mass usage."This should not just be our desire, but our responsibility," he said. For technology to be successful, it has to be underpinned by a human-centric approach, Modi said at the G7 outreach session on AI and energy as he cited India's success in leveraging digital technology for public service delivery.

A summit meeting of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations focused on migration on Friday, the second and final day of the gathering in southern Italy, seeking ways to combat trafficking and increase investment in countries from where migrants start out on often life-threatening journeys.

Migration is a priority for summit host Italy and its right-wing Premier Giorgia Meloni, who's seeking to increase investment and funding for African nations as a means of reducing migratory pressure on Europe.

The summit in a luxury resort in Italy’s southern Puglia region also focused on global conflicts and the spread of artificial intelligence. Perennial issues such as climate change and China were also discussed. On the first day of the summit, the attendees promised tens of billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine.

The Group of Seven rich democracies have failed to deliver significant new progress on climate during a summit in Italy, instead reiterating previous commitments, experts and activists said Friday."The G7 leaders could have stayed at home. No new commitments were made," said Friederike Roeder, vice president at Global Citizen.The leaders meeting in Puglia confirmed a pledge by their environment ministers in April "to phase out existing unabated coal power generation in our energy systems during the first half of 2030s".

PM Modi thanked PM Meloni for the invitation to participate in G7 Outreach Summit and conveyed his appreciation for the successful conclusion of the Summit.

The two leaders noted with satisfaction the regular higher political dialogue and reviewed progress of the India-Italy Strategic Partnership. While expressing happiness at growing trade and economic collaboration, they called for expanding commercial ties in clean energy, manufacturing, Space, S&T, telecom, AI and critical minerals to build resilient supply chains. In this context, they welcomed the recent signing of a MoU on Industrial Property Rights (IPR) which provides a framework for cooperation on patents, designs and trademarks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held bilateral talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the sidelines of the G7 Summit here.

Modi arrived in Italy early Friday at the invitation of Prime Minister Meloni to participate in the G7 Outreach summit. This is his first foreign trip after becoming prime minister for the third term earlier this month.

"Prime Minister Meloni's two visits to India last year were instrumental in infusing momentum and depth in our bilateral agenda," Modi said in Delhi ahead of his departure on Thursday.

"We remain committed to consolidate the India-Italy strategic partnership, and bolster cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean regions," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the G7 Summit after outreach session

"It's always a pleasure to meet POTUS Joe Biden. India and USA will keep working together to further global good," PM Modi posted on X.

"Pleased to meet UN Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres in Italy," said PM Modi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised the need to end technological monopolies and ensure universal access to technology to build an inclusive society and reduce social inequalities. Speaking on Friday at the Outreach session of the G7 summit in Italy's Apulia region, Modi stated that India is committed to collaborating with other nations to make Artificial Intelligence transparent, fair, secure, accessible, and responsible.Modi outlined India's energy strategy, which is founded on four key principles: availability, accessibility, affordability, and acceptability.

Addressing an outreach session of G7 Summit in Italy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that we need to strive towards a time of 'green era' by making joint efforts.PM Modi was speaking at the summit on the invitation of Italian counterpart Georgia Meloni. He addressed a session on Artificial Intelligence, energy, Africa, and the Mediterranean. Leaders from other invited countries and Pope Francis also participated in the session.

"Spoke at the G7 Outreach Session on AI and Energy, Africa and Mediterranean. Highlighted a wide range of subjects, notably, the wide scale usage of technology for human progress. The rise of technology in various aspects of human life has also reaffirmed the importance of cyber security. Spoke about how India is leveraging AI for its development journey. It is important that AI remain transparent, secure, accessible and responsible," said PM Modi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed world leaders at the G7 Summit outreach session and said that countries of global south are bearing the brunt of global uncertainties and tensions.

PM Modi was speaking at the summit on the invitation of Italian counterpart Georgia Meloni. He addressed a session on Artificial Intelligence, energy, Africa, and the Mediterranean.

During his address at the Outreach Session of G7 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "Last week, many of you were busy with the European Parliament elections. Some friends will go through the excitement of elections in the coming time. In India too, there was election time a few months back...The entire electoral process has been made fair and transparent by the ubiquitous use of technology...It is my good fortune that the people of India have given me the opportunity to serve them for the third consecutive time. The blessings that the people of India have given in the form of this historic victory is the victory of democracy. It is the victory of the entire democratic world."

"We are proud that G-20, under presidency of India, made the African Union a permanent member of the grouping," said PM Modi

'Countries of Global South are bearing brunt of global uncertainties and tensions,' said PM Modi at G7 outreach session

"It is our resolve to build a developed India by 2047; our commitment is that no section of society should be left behind," said PM Modi.

"We are making every possible effort to fulfill our commitment to achieve target of Net Zero by 2070," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Together we should make efforts to make coming time a 'Green Era'," said PM Modi at G7 Outreach session.

"During G-20 Summit hosted by India last year, we stressed on importance of international governance in field of AI," said PM Modi during the session address.

'India is striving for a better future through this human-centric approach,' says PM Modi at G7 Outreach session

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday shared a warm embrace with Pope Francis at the G7 Summit's outreach session held in Apulia, southern Italy. The leaders were there to discuss critical global issues alongside other world leaders.

PM Modi and the 87-year-old head of the worldwide Catholic Church were seen engaging in a light-hearted conversation.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil advocated for his nation's plan to impose a worldwide tax on the extremely wealthy during his speech at the G7 summit in Italy on Friday.

In a written speech distributed by the Brazilian government, Lula addressed the G7, stating, "It's past time for the super-rich to pay their fair share of taxes."
As one of its top priorities while holding the G20 presidency, the South American nation has been actively promoting this proposal.

Macron had earlier in the day held talks with PM Modi on the sidelines.

In a historic first, Pope Francis addressed the leaders of the G7 nations during their annual summit, having been invited by the host country, Italy. The pontiff focused his remarks on the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, urging the world's most prosperous democracies to prioritize human dignity in the development and application of this powerful technology.

The Pope cautioned that AI has the potential to reduce human interactions to mere algorithms, emphasizing the need for a human-centric approach. He called upon the G7 leaders to take responsibility for ensuring that decisions involving the use of weapons and other less-lethal tools remain firmly in the hands of human beings, rather than being delegated to machines.

“We would condemn humanity to a future without hope if we took away people’s ability to make decisions about themselves and their lives, by dooming them to depend on the choices of machines. We need to ensure and safeguard a space for proper human control over the choices made by artificial intelligence programs: Human dignity itself depends on it," he said.

On PM Modi meeting Pope Francis at Outreach Session of G7 Summit in Italy, John Barwa, Arch Bishop Of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar St Vincent Catholic Church says, " ...We say that this relationship of our PM and our holy father Pope will continue...this will have a lasting effect in the country and we Christians will have the possibility to live in peace and harmony in the country"