Leaders of the G7, led by the United States, met to tighten sanctions against Russia, provide more support for Ukraine and discuss rising tensions with China.

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Monitoring: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who holds the rotating G7 presidency, met with US President Joe Biden ahead of the summit that runs until Sunday. Officials said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would attend in person over the weekend.
 
In a joint statement on Friday, they said existing measures against Russia would be broadened and any exports that could help it in its 15-month war with Ukraine would be restricted across the G7 countries.

"This includes exports of industrial machinery, tools, and other technology that Russia uses to rebuild its war machine," they said, adding they would also try to restrict Russian revenues from trade in metals and diamonds.

Members of the G7 include the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Canada and Italy.

Ahead of the summit, Kishida and Biden discussed further strengthening what they called the deterrence of the Japan-US alliance and decided to develop Japan-US-South Korea cooperation.

"Biden is in the land of Hiroshima and he's brought a button along to fire a nuclear missile, I cannot forgive him for this. He needs to apologise to the people in Hiroshima," protester and labor union member surnamed Niishima told Reuters. 

Kishida, who represents Hiroshima in Japan's lower house of parliament, said he chose the city for the summit to focus attention on arms control.

Hiroshima, and another Japanese city, Nagasaki, were destroyed by US nuclear attacks 78 years ago. The aerial bombings together killed up to 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict.
 
Hiroshima has become the scene of angry protests, condemning the "imperialist summit", with police officers from across the country patrolling the area.

Hundreds of protesters rallied from Wednesday to Thursday in front of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, also known as the Atomic Bomb Dome, at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which will be closed until next Monday for the summit.

Carrying banners and signs such as "Crush the G7 Summit" and "No War-themed Conference", the protesters chanted slogans such as "No Japan-US leaders talk" and "Withdraw US military bases in Japan."

The protesters, including university students and family members of atomic bomb victims, gathered along one of Hiroshima's main streets, which was crowded with police more than 10 times the number of protesters.

Apart from the G7 members, Japan has invited India, Australia, Brazil, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Cook Islands and the Comoros Islands, as well as the heads of several international organizations, including the United Nations, the World Bank and the World Health Organization to the summit.