From EU to BRICS and NATO, June meetings showcase global strains

It was a brief moment of levity in a string of major international conferences almost back-to-back. First EU leaders met in Brussels, then the G7 in Germany followed by the NATO summit in Madrid, all three events designed to showcase Western unity after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (Pic shows President Biden and other leader at the G7 summit. - Reuters)

LONDON: As G7 leaders gathered at the start of a two-day meeting in Bavaria on Sunday, they joked about their muscles and whether to remove their jackets and mocked Russian President Vladimir Putin for his shirtless horseback photoshoots during the 2000s.

It was a brief moment of levity in a string of major international conferences almost back-to-back. First EU leaders met in Brussels, then the G7 in Germany followed by the NATO summit in Madrid, all three events designed to showcase Western unity after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.