This G7 Summit is surrounded by the beauty of the Bavarian fields and mountains, but there is a fundamental truth that is immediately apparent.
A collection of democracies comes together and each leader reacts to the public mood back home. Sometimes, the results are subtly different in one country from the next.
Russia is the G7’s opponent. His leader does not face such democratic pressure and is acutely aware of the flaws of the western model.
It is worth looking at the security and choreography as well as the grip and smile photo ops and alpine backgrounds. The differences in emphasis among the G7 countries and their desire for a global impression are worth exploring.
These internal differences are the first.
We know that the prime minister arrives in this country with domestic political problems. He was chasing him north from Rwanda’s Commonwealth summit.
He’ll likely be chased by it to the summit in Spain of the NATO defence alliance in Spain within a few days.
While he is away from the country for a week Conservatives back in the cabinet speculate privately on his future,
However, other leaders are also subject to domestic political pressures.
For example, take President Emmanuel Macron in France. He lost control of France’s National Assembly just a few months after he was re-elected president.
British officials feel that France and Germany are feeling the political pressure from some of the Ukraine-related consequences, not to mention spiralling prices.
Boris Johnson met with President Macron. Downing Street said that “any attempt to resolve the conflict now will only lead to enduring instability, and give Putin license to manipulate both sovereign nations and international markets for ever.”
Liz Truss, Foreign Secretary, co-wrote something similar with her Ukrainian counterpart in Sunday Telegraph.
Although No 10 publicly insists that President Macron has done “huge sums” to support Ukraine’s cause, there are concerns privately about Paris’s willingness to endure the long-term grind of war and all its costs.
There are also efforts to reassure countries outside the G7, including those that blame western sanctions for rising prices. James Landale, my colleague, writes here.
South Africa, India, Argentina and India are some of the countries invited to participate in these discussions.
According to me, tomorrow will see the meeting of four key countries – the United States (France), Germany, France and the UK.
The prime minister and others around him talk about the need to make a “gear shift” in sanctions. They believe that the new sanctions on Russian gold and the “game changer” on military assistance contribute to this. This will be discussed more at the Madrid Nato summit.
It will take persistence and patience to get there this week and beyond. It comes with a price.
