Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s surprise turn at last weekend’s G7 meeting in Hiroshima was the climax of a round of shuttle diplomacy in which the Ukrainian president secured yet more funds and equipment from western nations. But more than that was Zelenskiy’s apparent realisation that the balance of the war might not be swayed in London and Berlin but in the global south, a grouping of world nations that until now have largely avoided taking sides in the conflict.
Patrick Wintour ponders the complex wider issues at stake for western leaders who realise that more constructive relations with the global south could also be the key to containing an increasingly belligerent China.
