Japan PM first to arrive at G7 summit

Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Image source ndtv

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe touched down at Munich airport Saturday, the first world leader to arrive for the G7 summit in southern Germany. Abe flew fresh from Kiev where he met Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to be briefed on the conflict in eastern Ukraine, likely to be one of the main topics discussed by leaders at the G7.
During his visit to Kiev, the first official trip by a Japanese head of state to Ukraine, Abe said he would do everything possible at the G7 meeting to find a way out of the crisis with Russia but stressed he “resolutely” opposed military solutions.
Japanese and German flags fluttering from the top of the plane, Abe’s jumbo taxied to waiting dignitaries where the prime minister and his wife were treated to a Bavarian welcome with several people in traditional dress.
The couple walked along a red carpet lined by men in Lederhosen and traditional Bavarian hats bearing ceremonial swords or rifles and the prime minister then signed a visitors’ book.
The G7 summit takes place at the remote Elmau Castle in southern Germany where world leaders discuss several global problems including climate change, the debt crisis in Greece as well as Ukraine.
The two-day summit officially begins on Sunday.