Leaders of the Group of Seven will open their annual meeting in Italy on Thursday.

The three-day summit will be held in Puglia, southern Italy.

The leaders will discuss a wide range of issues such as support for Ukraine, which continues to fight Russia's aggression, the Middle East, economic security and AI.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to attend a part of the session about Ukraine on the first day, when participants will discuss using frozen Russian central bank assets to aid the war-ravaged country.

Officials say the G7 members are aiming to reach an agreement to set up a new fund to support Ukraine made up of financial contributions in the form of loans from various countries, and to use profits earned on frozen Russian assets to repay those loans.

An expanded meeting with leaders of invited countries and international bodies is scheduled on the second day of the summit.

The Italian government says India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazil's President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, and Pope Francis will be among the attendees.

It will be the first time for a pope to attend a G7 summit.
Italy plans to have Pope Francis take part in discussions about the use and control of AI.