Climate, trade, security, migration to figure in tough G7 summit

Taormina (Italy), May 26 (IANS/AKI) Officials expect tough talks at the G7 summit in Sicily on Friday and Saturday between US President Donald Trump and other leaders of the world's wealthiest nations on a raft of issues from climate and trade to security, migration, North Korea and Russia.

"We will demand results at the G7. It won't be an easy meeting," said Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni ahead of the summit. The Italian G7 presidency has made migration a priority for this year's talks and is eager for rich nations to stem the influx by boosting their aid to Africa's economic development.

The two-day summit opened at the picturesque coastal resort of Taormina with a ceremony at an ancient Greek theatre perched on a cliff overlooking the sea, where warships patrolled Mediterranean amid a massive security lockdown.

A day earlier, Trump slammed NATO allies in Brussels, accusing them of "owing massive amounts of money" to the US - although contributions to the military alliance are voluntary. He also deplored German trade policies at a meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, saying Germany's export prowess was "bad", EU and US officials confirmed on Friday.

"No doubt this will be the most challenging G7 summit in years," European Council president Donald Tusk said before the meeting opened. White House economic adviser Gary Cohn told journalists travelling to Taormina aboard Air Force One that he foresaw "robust" discussions on trade and climate at the summit.

Other G7 leaders at the summit will be trying to convince Trump, who has called human-made global warming a "hoax", not to pull his country out of a landmark climate deal reached in Paris in 2015.

The G7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the US, and the EU also has representatives. Russia was expelled from the group in 2014 after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine.

Tusk said on Friday he was less "optimistic" and "sentimental" on Russia than Trump, who urged better ties with Moscow during his election campaign and whose presidency has been clouded by investigations into his campaign's contacts with Russian officials.

The G7 summit brings Trump's first foreign trip as US president to a close. The four-nation tour aimed at galvanising support for action against Islamist terrorism included Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Italy, Belgium and the Vatican.

--IANS/AKI

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