Biden awkwardly salutes Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as he arrives at G7 Summit
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As he arrived in Italy for the G7 Summit on Thursday, US President Joe Biden gave an awkward salute to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia meloni.
Biden, aged 81, arrived last among the world leaders at the venue, in southern Puglia, as he made his way to the stage, where Meloni awaited.
Meloni and the other leaders spoke for a short time before Meloni pointed to a G7 logo frame that each of them had signed.
As Biden began to walk down the platform, he raised his right hand over his left eye and saluted Italian counterpart.
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The G7 is a forum informal that meets annually to discuss issues of economic policy and national security.
Canada, France Germany Italy Japan United Kingdom and United States are the members of the forum.
After their personal greetings, Biden, Meloni, and Trudeau were joined on the podium by Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau. Also present was UK Prime Minister Rishi sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron.
The three-day meeting will focus on the global conflicts, artificial intelligence, and Africa, as well as new pledges to assist Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
Pope Francis, who arrives in the United States on Friday, will be the first pontiff to speak at the G7 Summit. He will discuss the dangers of AI.
The Pope will also renew his call for a peaceful end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Before the leaders’ arrival at the summit an agreement was being worked out to lend $50 million to Ukraine using the interest earned from Russia central bank assets frozen as collateral.
The US would provide most of the money through a loan backed by the windfall profits earned from the roughly $300 billion worth of immobilized Russian assets.
The majority of money is held by nations in the European Union.
Biden’s awkward moment in front of world leaders came just days after he was virtually motionless during a musical performance for Juneteenth at the White House.
As Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff danced, the 81-year old president stood with his eyes fixed on stage as gospel singer Kirk Franklin sang his song “Love Theory”.