Germany - The G7 summit is set to take place against a darker backdrop than last year when the British, Canadian, French, German, Italian, Japanese and U.S. leaders met for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic and vowed to build back better.
The three-day summit at the castle resort of Schloss Elmau at the foot of Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze Alps, is however overshadowed by the war in Ukraine and its far-reaching consequences, from energy shortages to a food crisis.
The G7 was founded in 1975 as a forum for the richest nations to discuss crises such as the OPEC oil embargo.
It became the G8 after Russia was admitted six years after the fall of the Soviet Union. But Moscow was suspended in 2014 after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine.
Fifteen groups critical of globalisation, from Attac to the World Wildlife Fund, will participate in the demonstrations. Their various demands include a phase-out of fossil fuels, the preservation of biodiversity, social justice and greater efforts to combat hunger.
3,500 protesters gathered in Munich as the G7 group of leading economic powers prepare to hold their annual gathering in the Bavarian Alps. Around 18,000 police officers have been deployed around Munich and the summit site.
Soaring global energy and food prices are hitting economic growth in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The United Nations warned on Friday of an "unprecedented global hunger crisis". Climate change, an increasingly assertive China and the rise of authoritarianism are also set to be on the agenda.
The G7 leaders are expected to seek to show a united front on supporting Ukraine for as long as necessary and cranking up pressure on the Kremlin - although they will want to avoid sanctions that could stoke inflation and exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis affecting their own people.
The G7 partners are set to agree to ban imports of gold from Russia, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. A German government source later said that leaders were having "really constructive" conversations on a possible price cap on Russian oil imports.
An EU official said G7 countries would impress upon the partner countries that food price spikes hitting them were the result of Russia's actions and that there were no sanctions targeting food. It was also a mistake to think of the Ukraine war as a local matter.
-Ap/Guardian