By Rabia Iclal Turan
ANKARA (AA) – G7 leaders Friday will meet via video link to discuss international cooperation on vaccine distribution and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UK, as the president of G7 for the year, will be hosting Friday’s virtual meeting, the first gathering of G7 leaders since April 2020, ahead of a summit on June 11-13 this year in Cornwall, southwest England.
According to a Twitter post by the 2021 UK Presidency of the G7, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will “encourage G7 leaders tomorrow [Friday] to give more to global vaccinations as he commits the UK to offer surplus vaccines to COVAX to support developing countries”.
“He will also call on leaders to support a treaty on pandemic preparedness through the WHO as we make preventing future health crises a core part of our G7UK presidency,” it added.
The virtual meeting will also be US President Joe Biden’s first meeting with global leaders since taking office, where he will discuss global efforts for COVID-19 vaccination, economy, and China.
The G7, a group of the world’s major economic powers, comprises the US, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan. Russia also used to be part of the group since 1998, which was then named G8, but the country was removed in 2014 due to its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
