Rishi Sunak – 2023 Remarks at the G7 Press Conference

The speech made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, in Japan on 21 May 2023.

Let me start by thanking Prime Minister Kishida and the people of Japan for their warm and generous welcome and hospitality.

At this pivotal moment for peace, freedom, and democracy, the G7 came together with our allies and friends to confront a more dangerous world.

We leave Hiroshima stronger and more united than ever.

And through this summit, we have advanced the priorities of the British people with two big aims – economic security and national security.

First, economic security.

On this trip, we’ve secured almost £18 billion of new investments into the UK from Japanese businesses.

That’s a huge vote of confidence in the UK – creating hundreds of new jobs, with significantly more to come as projects get underway.

All helping to grow our economy – one of my five priorities for the UK.

And alongside our unprecedented new defence and security partnership it’s clear that the UK-Japan relationship has never been closer as we work with G7 allies to support a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The G7 also demonstrated unity of purpose on China.

China poses the biggest challenge of our age to global security and prosperity. They are increasingly authoritarian at home and assertive abroad.

And, as the G7 have showed, the UK’s response is completely aligned with our allies.

This is all about de-risking – not de-coupling.

And with the G7, we are taking steps to prevent China from using economic coercion to interfere in the sovereign affairs of others.

A new theme of this Summit was also AI.

AI can bring huge benefits for our economy, society, and public services.

But of course – it needs to be developed safely, securely, and fairly.

And that will require international cooperation something the UK is in a natural position to lead.

Our second aim for this Summit was national security.

All leaders at this Summit are grappling with the issue of illegal migration.

My policy is this: it is the British government who will determine who comes to Britain.

We must stop the boats and break the business model of the criminal gangs.

This is a global issue – and it will increasingly be a focus of our international engagement.

Just last week, at the Council of Europe we agreed to strengthen cooperation with the EU’s border force.

At this Summit, we secured the G7’s agreement to deepen our work together.

And we expect this to be an important focus of the G7 next year, under Italy’s leadership.

And there is no more pressing issue facing the G7 and the world – than Ukraine.

I want to pay tribute to my friend, Volodymyr. It was a privilege to welcome him to Chequers earlier this week.

And I believe his attendance at this G7 was a moment of historic significance.

The image of the G7 and our partners standing shoulder to shoulder with President Zelenskyy sends a powerful message about the unity and determination of the G7 allies.

We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, because their security is our security.

The G7’s strategy is clear:

Our military, diplomatic and economic tools are all part of the Ukrainian counter-offensive.

We’re delivering more support on the battlefield through air defence, artillery, tanks, and long-range missiles – which the UK was the first country to provide.

We’re supporting Ukraine to develop the air force it needs for the future with the UK training Ukrainian pilots, starting this summer.

And we’ve made a real breakthrough at this Summit, thanks to President Biden’s support for an international coalition to provide F-16 jets.

We’re ratcheting up the economic cost to Russia with a new package of sanctions.

And we know that Ukraine must not only win the war but win a just and lasting peace.

We’re working with allies to provide coordinated bilateral security arrangements and a collective commitment to Ukraine’s future defence, to guarantee they can deter future attacks.

And any peace settlement must be on Ukraine’s terms.

I want to just quote from the statement that the G7 and our partner countries have just agreed:

“We support a just and durable peace, based on respect for international law, the principles of the UN Charter, and territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

In other words: we must, and we will show that violent territorial aggression does not reap rewards.

There could be no more fitting place to discuss the urgent need for peace, than Hiroshima.

I was deeply moved to visit the peace memorial on Friday.

What we saw there was haunting.

A child’s tricycle, twisted by the blast.

School uniforms bloodied and torn.

And with those images in our minds, we resolved never to forget what happened here.

And at this historic summit, G7 leaders recommitted ourselves to the path of peace, freedom, and democracy.

Thank you.