WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — President Joe Biden departed to Italy on Wednesday to participate in a summit of the world’s leading industrial democracies known as the Group of Seven.

The G7 leadership meets annually to discuss shared issues and concerns.

Biden and his counterparts from Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan will use the summit to discuss challenges related to the spread of artificial intelligence, migration, the Russian military’s resurgence and China’s economic might, among other topics.

Pope Francis, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also will participate in the gathering at the Borgo Egnazia resort in southern Italy.

This year’s summit opens Thursday, just after far-right parties across the continent picked up gains in just-concluded European Union elections. There also are elections soon in the United Kingdom, France and the United States.

All of this shifting of power could have implications for leadership and shared goals moving forward.

“You hear this a lot when you talk to U.S. and European officials: If we can’t get this done now, whether it’s on China, whether it’s on the assets, we may not have another chance,” said Josh Lipsky, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center, an international affairs think tank. “We don’t know what the world will look like three months, six months, nine months from now.”

Kirby said the U.S. was prepared to work with democratically elected officials in the EU no matter who they are, though some of those being elevated have expressed far less support for Ukraine than current leaders.

“We have every confidence that regardless of who fills the seats in the European Parliament, we’re going to continue to work closely with our EU partners on all the issues relative to our shared interests across the European continent,” Kirby said. “That includes supporting Ukraine.”

Biden and Zelenskyy, who met last week in Paris, will meet again Thursday on the sidelines of the summit to discuss continued support for the Eastern European nation, which is trying to fend off an intense Russian offensive in eastern areas of the country. They are expected to hold a joint news conference.

Biden is also expected to meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the pope and other leaders.

Biden is also expected to discuss economic concerns brought on by Chinese manufacturing overcapacity, how to use artificial intelligence in a way that maximizes benefits but still manages national security risks, and global migration.

The U.S. and other G7 nations are certain to discuss the implications of large influxes of migrants arriving for reasons that include war, climate change and drought. Migration, and how nations cope with the numbers at their borders, has been a key issue in European politics.

And Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said recently that G7 finance ministers have been discussing the possibility of extending a loan to Ukraine, using the windfall profits of assets seized in Europe to pay it off.

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