Rishi Sunak denies he is being snubbed after awkward start to G7 summit

Rishi Sunak has declared that he was not ignored by other leaders after his initial day at the G7 summit concluded with no one-on-one discussions with his fellow leaders. He also experienced an uncomfortable incident with Giorgia Meloni.

During his arrival in Puglia for the G7 leaders' summit on Thursday, Sunak received a greeting from Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister and one of his closest international allies. However, it seemed that Meloni withdrew from Sunak after they hugged.

Sunak and Meloni are known for having strong opinions regarding the issue of illegal migration. They have attempted to establish initiatives that involve transferring asylum seekers to other countries for processing purposes. During Sunak's AI summit last year, Meloni showed her support by being one of the few influential leaders in attendance. Additionally, she was a speaker at a political festival held in Rome, which was organized by her political party, the Brothers of Italy.

The records show that during their meeting last Thursday, she asked him with concern, "Are you feeling alright?" The political party of Sunak, who is a member of the Conservative party, is currently failing by 20 points according to polls and is anticipated to suffer a loss during the upcoming general election which is only three weeks away.

On the other hand, there is a notable difference as the Brothers of Italy gained nearly 29% of the Italian vote during the latest European parliament elections, which is a significant increase compared to their performance in 2019 where they only received 6.4%. This achievement has propelled Meloni to celebrate it during the G7 summit as if it were a triumph. In fact, during Monday, she enthusiastically announced that Italy now had the mightiest government among all the others in the G7 and Europe as a whole.

Meloni and Sunak posted a photo together on Instagram that expressed their ongoing connection. They included a message that emphasized their shared values, such as freedom, the ability to control borders, and the defense of national sovereignty. These beliefs are what bring their politics and countries together.

Sunak finished his first day at the G7 summit without having any official one-on-one sit-downs with other world leaders. However, he did have a brief 10-minute chat with Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Sunak proposed they go for a stroll around the golf course that was hosting the event and they talked extensively about Ukraine. Before parting ways, they hugged and Zelenskiy wished Sunak "the best of luck".

The leader of the UK is scheduled to have meetings with the European Commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi. When questioned about possibly being overlooked by G7 leaders due to a potential election loss, Sunak replied, "During gatherings like this, you have the opportunity to engage in meetings with individuals on the sidelines, and that's exactly what I've been doing."

We've been at this place for about 12 hours now, and I've had discussions with several individuals in between my scheduled meetings. That's generally how these events operate. Therefore, I have already had a casual discussion with Emmanuel Macron and talked about various topics with Olaf Scholz. Sunak had an informal conversation with the French leader and the German head of government.

The leader of a country known as the prime minister is not the only one who is experiencing political troubles in the G7 group. Another leader named Macron has decided to hold a sudden parliamentary election because his political group did badly in the EU elections within their country of France, which led to more people supporting the far-right National Rally group. The same thing happened in Germany during the EU elections, as the far-right Alternative for Germany party got a lot of support.

At the same time, President Joe Biden from the United States is gearing up for a challenging re-election campaign in November. Recent surveys indicate that his race against Donald Trump will be a close call. Additionally, the approval ratings for both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have not been favorable.