Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Jul 14, 2025

From Russia to Brexit: the key issues at the G7 summit

From Russia to Brexit: the key issues at the G7 summit

The top items on the leaders’ agenda for this week’s gathering at Cornwall, and some possible outcomes

World leaders are gathering for the G7 summit in Cornwall this week. Here we look at the key themes that will dominate their meeting and what might constitute a successful outcome from discussions:

Russia – and threats to democracy


One of Joe Biden’s key aims is a show of western solidarity before his forthcoming meeting with Vladimir Putin in Geneva. The US president wrote in the Washington Post that he was aiming to “rally the world’s democracies” and perform a major reset of foreign policy after the unpredictability of his predecessor Donald Trump, who wavered on commitment to Nato and flirted with autocrats including the Russian leader.

G7 foreign ministers, after meeting last month to prepare the ground, said they were “deeply concerned” about “the negative pattern of Russia’s irresponsible and destabilising behaviour”. After landing in the UK on Wednesday night, Biden told US troops at an airbase in Suffolk: “We are going to make it clear that the US is back and democracies of the world are standing together to tackle the toughest challenges and the issues that matter most to our future.”

China


Key critics of the G7 often bring up China’s absence as a reason why the coterie of world leaders is diminishing in influence. Yet the superpower will be a major subject on the agenda, shown by the invitation to Australia, South Korea and India to attend as guests. Beijing’s reach and influence is a key issue for them. Biden’s agenda is to persuade European nations to take the threat of China’s sway on democracies more seriously, as Chinese investment in infrastructure and businesses pours into Europe.

Boris Johnson, whose recent defence and security review promised a renewed “Indo-Pacific tilt”, is also keen to find ways of cooperating to dilute Beijing’s influence.

Vaccines


Johnson has announced that he would like to see the entire world vaccinated by the end of 2022, but offered scant detail about how the UK would like that to happen. With most G7 countries now well on the way to fully vaccinating their adult populations, and the UK itself having secured millions of excess doses, the world is looking to the G7 for a detailed, funded plan.

More than 200 former world leaders and foreign ministers including two former UK prime ministers, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, wrote to G7 leaders earlier this week, urging them to agree to meet two-thirds of the £46.6bn cost of expanding vaccinations throughout low-income countries. An agreement to do so would be a tangible legacy from the Cornwall summit.

Tax


In what many saw as a hopeful sign of the return of multilateralism, G7 finance ministers signed a historic agreement in London last week, laying the groundwork for a tougher global tax regime. The new system is aimed at allowing governments to levy tax on the most profitable firms wherever they earn revenue, instead of allowing multinationals to play one jurisdiction off against another; and it sets a minimum rate of 15%.

Campaigners say the 15% rate is too low – Biden had proposed 21%. There are also concerns about how the resulting revenue would be divided between the G7 and developing countries, and how long it might take to implement. The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is also reportedly already seeking an exemption from the new regime for City firms. But G7 leaders are nevertheless likely to hail the agreement as the start of a new era of cooperation.

Aid and girls’ education


Ever since he was foreign secretary, Johnson has highlighted the importance of girls’ education, calling it a “Swiss army knife” that helps to solve a range of other development issues. It will feature this weekend too, but anti-poverty campaigners accuse the prime minister of hypocrisy, given his recent controversial decision to ditch – temporarily, the government insists – the target of spending 0.7% of national income on aid.

Labour has said it would like to see Johnson restate his commitment to the 0.7% target – but that appears highly unlikely. Instead the UK may press other nations to pledge to help boost girls’ schooling.

Climate


Discussions on the climate emergency will be more straightforward than in recent years for one, very basic reason: no Trump. One of Biden’s very first acts as president was to rejoin the Paris climate agreement, and Cornwall will not be dominated by the almost impossible earlier conundrum of achieving concrete results without alienating Trump’s administration.

“Easier than Trump” is, however, a low bar, and while climate action is billed as one of the central thrusts of this G7 summit, the danger is that with issues such as Covid, vaccines and corporation tax dominating, the only outcome is yet more bland words on an end-of-summit communique.

There are several climate-based protests planned to coincide with the summit, aimed at focusing the minds of leaders, but almost certainly kept at such a distance from the event that they can and will be ignored.

Nonetheless, for Johnson the stakes are relatively high, if largely in the medium term. The crucial Cop26 climate summit is being held in Glasgow in November, and the prime minister will want to build up a head of global policy steam moving towards this. As such, he will be under pressure to emerge from this weekend with something definite and agreed in policy terms, not just yet another restatement of the need to do something.

Brexit


Johnson doesn’t want Brexit to be anywhere near the G7. In a recent profile for Atlantic magazine the prime minister insisted: “We’ve sucked that lemon dry.” But the Brexit minister, Lord Frost, will now travel to Cornwall, in a sign that No 10 has conceded it will be impossible to avoid the issue.

On Wednesday Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan reiterated the president’s “deep” concerns about the simmering row over the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol, warning about the risks of imperilling the peace process. Johnson is likely to come under intense pressure to make concessions, but he gave the pugnacious Frost his staunch backing on Wednesday, jokingly calling him “the greatest Frost since the Great Frost of 1709”.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
×