MR. SULLIVAN: We've got a busy day ahead of us here at the first day of the G7. I'll just highlight a few items for you.
The first session will be on Africa, climate change, and development. And the President will have his chance, coming out of the Kenya state visit in particular, to talk about the full range of investments and approaches the U.S. has taken with respect to Africa to spur social and economic development, security, and in particular, investment. And I'll come on to that in a minute.
We believe the G7 will — the statement will reflect the Nairobi-Washington Vision that President Biden signed with President Ruto on debt relief for low- and middle-income countries. And that's going to be an important outcome today.
Second, we'll have a session on the Middle East. This will be an opportunity for the leaders to get an update from President Biden on the negotiations with respect to the ceasefire and hostage deal, to talk about G7 support for bringing that deal to closure so that we can get a ceasefire in place and the hostages home.
They'll also talk about Lebanon and the increasing tension along that border, including the increasing intensity, scope — intensity and scope of the strikes by Hezbollah deeper into Israel and including into civilian areas. President Biden will talk about the links between getting a ceasefire in Gaza and getting calm on the border between Israel and Lebanon.
And of course, they'll compare notes on the continuing threat posed by Iran, both with respect to its support for proxy forces and with respect to the Iranian nuclear program, where we continue to have grave concerns and where the IAEA spoke last week.
Next, the President will participate in a session with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and the G7 leaders on G7 support for Ukraine across the board. And that will be an opportunity to talk about coordination on sanctions, which the United States announced yesterday and other G7 partners will be announcing over the coming days. Of course, to talk about many of your favorite subject and mine: the mobilization of the proceeds from Russian sovereign assets to help Ukraine with respect to its resilience and economic needs.
As I told some of you guys on the plane yesterday, there's been very good progress in the discussions among the G7 delegations here to reach an agreement for how to make that happen. And hopefully by the time the leaders meet today, we will have a common vision for the way forward, and the Italian presidency will be able to announce that there is a path forward. But we'll all just have to wait and see what happens here in a few hours' time.
This has been something that the United States has put a lot of energy and effort into because we see the proceeds from these assets as being a valuable source of resources for Ukraine at a moment when Russia continues to brutalize the country, not just through military action on the front, but through the attempted destruction of its energy grid and its economic vitality.
One more thing I'll just note today coming in is we believe that, entering our fourth G7 — President Biden's fourth G7, G7 leaders are more unified, really, than they've ever been, at least in modern memory, on the major issues across the board, whether that's geopolitical crises or its challenges related to the global economy, including issues like Chinese overcapacity.
And as we've come into this G7, the European Union has taken what we believe is an important step with respect to the imposition of tariffs on electric vehicles from China. We welcome that action, which they implemented after a thorough investigation, to address China's unfair trade practices and the electric vehicle sector. And as we head into our first sessions here in Italy, we think this kind of alignment is what we're looking to build upon to create a level playing field for our workers and our firms.
And then, the last thing I wanted to talk about is: Later today, the President will participate in and help lead a side event on the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, PGI. He'll co-host it with the Prime Minister of Italy. It will bring together leaders of the G7 and private sector executives, including the CEO and chairman of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, and the chairman and CEO of BlackRock, Larry Fink, to identify incentives and methods to mobilize infrastructure investment with a particular focus on leveraging private capital.
And so, the President will showcase how we're scaling the G7's flagship infrastructure initiative to attract major investors so that we can not just generate — because the demand is there — but channel the demand for high-quality infrastructure financing and make a connection between sources of private capital and the needs across the developing world.
So at this event, the President is going to announce that since the launch of PGI in 2022, we've initiated investments that will mobilize over $60 billion in support of PGI. And we're going to, in the next few months and years, accelerate investments so that we will hit the President's $200 billion mobilization goal by 2027.
And he'll also highlight game-changing investments that we've unlocked in partnership with multilateral institutions in the private sector over the past year that advance our own supply chains and national security and our work to outcompete China. There'll be some more specific announcements that come out of that session later today.
And then, just to close out the day, of course, as I mentioned yesterday, the President will be signing a bilateral security agreement with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. We think this is a big deal, a milestone moment in the partnership between the U.S. and Ukraine and a real marker of our commitment not just for this month and this year, but for the many years ahead, as we will continue to support Ukraine both in defending against Russian aggression and in deterring future aggression so that Ukraine can be a sovereign, viable, thriving democracy rooted and anchored in its partnership with the West and in the Euro-Atlantic community.
So, sorry to go on for so long, but that's where we are this morning, and I look forward to taking your questions.
Q Jake, according to European Union sources, every reference to abortion and reproductive rights have been cancelled from the final declaration at the request of the Italian presidency. This is, of course, also a matter of international rights. Does the President know? Does he agree with that? Is he going to raise the issue of reproductive rights and general rights, LGBTQ rights, during the bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Meloni?
MR. SULLIVAN: The President always talks about human rights in all of his interactions, both with friends and with competitors and adversaries. And I don't expect the next two days will be any different.
I can't speak to the specific assertion. I have not heard that with respect to discussions over the communiqué itself.
But from the President's point of view, he doesn't change up his message based on who he's talking to, and nothing about that will change today.
Q On a ceasefire, Jake, can you update us based on what's the latest? I understand you spoke yesterday and there's really not much that you can say. But for people who are confused about the state of play at this point, would it be fair to characterize that Hamas has not agreed in private but say publicly that they have agreed, and Israel is the opposite of that in private, agreeing, but in public not agreeing?
And then, if you could, just update my question yesterday, which was the U.N. inquiry that has called out both Hamas and Israel for violating international law and committing war crimes. If you've had a chance to look at that.
