G7 Summit: Leaders hold talks on sidelines ahead of formal discussions Sunday

World
Europe

Formal talks at the G7 summit in France are getting underway in several hours. On Saturday, the world leaders attended a welcome dinner in the southern French resort of Biarritz, and held sideline meetings on global issues. But French President Emmanuel Macron has already lowered expectations on what will get accomplished in the next couple of days. CGTN's Stefan de Vries reports from Biarritz.

A rare sight Saturday morning in France's coastal resort town of Biarritz. Usually, there are thousands of people on these beaches. But today, world leaders arrived for the annual G7 group of nations summit.

STEFAN DE VRIES BIARRITZ, FRANCE "The heads of state have a long list of topics to discuss - climate change, the escalating trade wars between the US and China, and Brexit give little reason to be optimistic."

BORIS JOHNSON BRITISH PRIME MINISTER "I'm very worried about the way it's going. The growth of protectionism, of tariffs, that we're seeing."

During the summit, Biarritz turns into a security fortress and anti-G7 protesters are confined near the French-Spanish border. On Saturday, thousands of people marched peacefully through the streets in Hendaye.

"These are imperialistic, nationalistic states, and they're promoting a system that is destroying the planet and destroying the people."

Back in Biarritz, a series of bilateral meetings between world leaders took place. Meantime, French President Emmanuel Macron had lunch with U.S. President Donald Trump.

DONALD TRUMP US PRESIDENT "So far, so good. The weather is perfect, the guest is fantastic and everybody is getting along and people accomplished a lot this weekend and I look forward to it."

On Saturday night, G7 leaders attend a dinner in Biarritz and formal talks are set to begin on Sunday morning. This is Stefan de Vries, in Biarritz in the southwest of France, for CGTN.