U.S. President Joe Biden gave an awkward salute to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as he arrived at the G7 summit in Italy on Thursday.
Biden, 81, was the last of the world leaders to arrive at the venue in Puglia, stepping onto the stage where Meloni was waiting.
The two men talked for a while, then Meloni pointed to a framed G7 logo, which each leader in attendance signed in marker.
As Biden walked from the podium, he raised his right arm over his eyes and saluted his Italian colleague.
The G7 is an informal forum with annual summits to discuss economic policy and security issues.
Countries participating in the forum are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Biden and Meloni each gave separate remarks before rejoining the stage with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, British Chancellor Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The three-day summit is expected to focus on global conflicts, the rise of artificial intelligence, African issues and renewed pledges of assistance to help Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Pope Francis arrives on Friday and will be the first pope to address a G7 summit to discuss the dangers of AI.
The Pope is also expected to reiterate his call for a peaceful end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
Before the leaders arrived for the summit, an agreement was underway to loan Ukraine $50 million from interest earned on frozen Russian central bank assets.
The United States will provide most of the funding through loans, backed by a windfall from Russia’s roughly $300 billion in fixed assets.
The majority of the funds are held in European Union countries.
The awkward moment came days after Biden appeared among world leaders when he remained motionless for nearly a minute during a Juneteenth musical performance at the White House.
The 81-year-old president stood staring at the stage as gospel singer Kirk Franklin performed his song “Love Theory” and Vice President Kamala Harris, Vice President Doug Emhoff and other dignitaries danced.
With post wire
