Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said she was confident the 2024 G7 summit will delivery “concrete results” as she opened the gathering of top international leaders in the Puglia resort of Borgo Egnazia on Thursday.

“There is a lot of work to be done, but I am certain that, over these two days, we will be able to carry out discussions capable of delivering concrete, measurable results,” Meloni said.

“The G7 is not a fortress that is closed in on itself, that has to defend itself from someone.

“It is an offering of values that we open up to the world, in order to have shared development as a goal”.

The G7 leaders are expected to announce an agreement on the use of the profits from Russia assets frozen in the West following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine to set up a fund of around 50 or 60 billion euros for Kyiv.

Washington has been pushing hard for this, but European nations have been more prudent due to technical issues regarding the legal implications of such a move.

The crisis in the Middle East will be a key area of focus too.

The Italian duty presidency of the G7 is also making sure there is great attention to the issues of migration and relations with developing nations, especially engagement with African States, for a cooperation model based on mutually beneficial partnerships, rather than the paternalistic or predatory approaches of the past.

Artificial Intelligence is on the agenda as well.

Indeed, Pope Francis will attend the summit on Friday, becoming the first pontiff to take part in a G7, and is set to talk about the need for ethical AI, as well as about efforts to bring about peace.