hello, a warm welcome. we begin injeddah where in the past few minutes ukraine s president zelensky has arrived on an unannounced visit at an arab league summit, just getting under way. he tweeted that he wanted to enhance ukraine s ties with the arab world and take cooperation with the saudis to a new level. the syrian president bashar al assad is making his first appearance at the summit in more than 12 years, since syria was thrown out of the bloc in response to the suppression of pro democracy protests and an enduring civil war he arrived in the country last night we will speak to our correspondent injeddah injusta we will speak to our correspondent injeddah in just a few moments, we will speak to our correspondent injeddah injust a few moments, but injeddah injust a few moments, but in a big day for diplomatic developments, this time injapan. now to japan, where the g7 leaders of the world s leading industrialised nations have begun their summit with a demand that
behaviour by four women. welcome to bbc news. it is a day of two important summits, with the war in ukraine being the common theme. at the g7 gathering injapan, world leaders met to discuss a new round of sanctions against russia while, at the arab league meeting in saudi arabia, president zelensky made a surprise visit, urging those attending to support ukraine. he told the gathering injeddah that, on this, the asoth day of the war, the world needed to fight the virus of aggression from moscow, stressing kyiv would not give up any sovereign territory to achieve peace. also making the headlines at that summit president assad of syria the first time he s been invited to the arab league since the devastating civil war that s blighted the country. here he is the official handshake and welcome from the saudi crown prince. more on assad in a moment and more on the g7. first, though, let s hear from volodymir zelenski. if there are people here at the summit who have a different
welcome to the programme. ukraine has been a common theme at two major leaders summits. we will cover it all here tonight on the context. on the first day of their annual meeting injapan, g7 leaders agreed new sanctions against russia. meanwhile in saudi arabia, president zelensky made a surprise visit to the arab league gathering, urging those attending, to support ukraine. also making the headlines at that summit president assad of syria it s the first time he s been invited to the arab league since the devastating civil war, that s blighted the country. and later in the programme we have a special report from the new york times which has uncovered shocking evidence of the greek coastguard abandoning asylum seekers in the sea. but first let s focus in on the g7 summit injapan. the leaders have agreed new sanctions against russia. they said the measures would starve moscow of their technology, industrial equipment, and services that supported its war against ukraine.
downing street said so far, more than 60% of president putin s war chest has been immobilised , worth about £275 billon or $342 billion. european council president charles michel is under pressure to try to persuade the 27 eu members to follow suit. here is what he said about the traceability of the diamonds. we will restrict trade in russia, they are for ever. we layout openly and frankly why these sanctions are necessary and justified. russian propaganda is built on lies and conspiracy. we are fighting back with the facts and figures. it is important to work on it. we need to put a system in place that will be efficient because we all know the challenge is to make sure that we