G-7 Leaders Release Communique Day Early, in Rare Move

   Hiroshima, May 21 (Jiji Press)--Leaders of the Group of Seven major powers released the Hiroshima Leaders' Communique a day before the conclusion of their three-day summit Sunday, though such documents are usually issued on the last day.
   Japan, this year's G-7 president, moved up the release to Saturday in an apparent attempt to prevent the outcome of the summit, including on nuclear disarmament, from being overshadowed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's in-person participation in a G-7 session on the last day.
   Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki told reporters late Saturday that the communique was released following the end of all sessions attended exclusively by G-7 leaders.
   But the provisional Japanese translation of the document was released only after 8 a.m. Sunday (11 p.m. Saturday GMT), while the English version was made available shortly past 3:30 p.m. the day before.
   Japanese government sources said that a reason for the decision to release the communique early was the possibility of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni having to leave Japan early to deal with a crisis caused by torrential rains in the northern region of her country. Meloni was absent from G-7 sessions Sunday.

(2023/05/21-16:14)

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