Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron walked into their bilateral talks with arms around each other. Macron was seen grinning as he posed for cameras with his blazer casually slung over his shoulder.
“This is the meeting a year later,” Boris Johnson said, putting his message on President Macron’s shoulder.
“The word Brexit was not mentioned,” a French official said, adding that the two had decided to focus on Ukraine and the fallout from the war.
A Downing Street spokesman added: “They agreed that this is a critical moment for the course of the conflict, and that there is an opportunity to turn the tide of the war.”
A French official said Macron had brought up the topic of the European Political Community.
Macron last month proposed creating a European political community that would create a new structure, allowing closer cooperation with countries seeking EU membership, even suggesting Britain could be part of it.
The official said Johnson had shown great enthusiasm for the idea and said he had previously proposed such an initiative.
Downing Street opposed any suggestion that the UK would return to pre-Brexit free movement of people.
“As far as I know, the Prime Minister has not given him any formal details about that.
“It would be fair to say that there are no plans to change our position regarding freedom of movement, control of our borders, that will not change.”
However, the pair did not discuss the ongoing Channel migrant crisis. Asked why, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “There are very important geopolitical issues to discuss, not least the crisis in Ukraine.
“They’ve talked about those issues before and I’m sure they will again.
“But it’s clear that on the eve of the G7, that’s pretty much, I’m sure, at the forefront of both of their minds.”
The seven world leaders from the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada and the United States have a packed agenda with the war in Ukraine, climate change, hunger, poverty and health at the top of the agenda.
Leaders have agreed at the five-star Schloss Elmau hotel in southern Bavaria, Germany, under the motto “Progress towards a just world.”
More precisely, G7 world leaders are discussing a price cap for Russian oil, postponement of climate change commitments, a possible famine in Africa and the continued supply of arms to Ukraine.
Ahead of the summit, Boris Johnson warned the West not to show war-weariness in its support for Ukraine as the conflict continues amid ongoing Russian attacks and advances in the eastern Donbas region.
“Realistically there will be fatigue among the population and politicians,” warned Mr Johnson, adding that NATO and the G7 have been solid so far.
The main aim of the three-day summit will be to take stock of the impact economic sanctions are having on Putin’s war machine and how to better handle the Russian economy.
US President Joe Biden has already announced a ban on the import of Russian gold.
In a tweet, he said: “Together, the G7 will announce that we will ban the import of Russian gold, an important export that brings in tens of billions of dollars for Russia.”
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So far, Western allies have imposed a total of six rounds of sanctions to destroy Russia’s economy.
Among the most prominent sanctions are an embargo on Russian oil and extensive export controls.
“The UK, US, Japan and Canada will push the G7 to ban imports of Russian gold, the country’s largest non-energy export,” the British government confirmed in a statement.
Russia used to be part of the then G8, but was excluded in 2014 due to its takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea.
Eight years later, Vladimir Putin unilaterally decided to invade all of Ukraine, but failed to capture parts of the north and east of the country. He is now concentrating his war efforts in the eastern Donbas region, an area where fighting has been going on since 2014.
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