President Biden concluded a summit of the world’s richest democracies here on Sunday and had domestic issues on his mind, the easing US debt talks, but also

addressed

the government’s most urgent international

to assure

: Ukraine and China.

Biden announced another package of military aid to Ukraine, including $375 million in armored fighting vehicles and artillery. And he predicted that US-China relations, at one of their lowest points in decades, will soon improve.

The Group of Seven Nations used their annual meeting to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly 15 months ago, reiterate their firm support for Kiev and implore China to be more constructive in ending the war and curbing its own aggressive actions against Taiwan.

“Together with the entire G-7, we stand with Ukraine and are not going anywhere,” Biden said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a splash at the summit on Sunday, part of a global campaign to call for greater support for his beleaguered country’s struggle to eject Russian troops. Biden and Zelensky greeted each other with a hug.

Earlier Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his Wagner Group troops and mercenaries on what he said was the capture of Bakhmut, the site of the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.

Zelensky initially seemed to lament the destruction of the small eastern city and its fall to the occupation forces, saying, “Bakhmut is now alone in our hearts.”

Later, when his aides tried to reverse the comments, Zelensky clarified to reporters that the disputed city “is not occupied by the Russian Federation as of today.”

It was impossible to establish the full reality on the ground, but Russia prevailed for some time. Both sides suffered huge losses in the fighting.

“People are the treasure,” said Zelensky. “I can’t share with you the technical details of what happens to our warriors.”

Biden also said he would allow Ukrainian pilots to train on US-made F-16 fighter jets, equipment that the US government has yet to deliver to the Ukrainians to avoid the appearance of further escalation in the war. Biden said he had been given “flat assurances” that Ukraine will not use US equipment, including F-16s, to attack inside Russia. Russian troops in Ukraine, which presumably includes the Crimean peninsula that Russia occupied in 2014, are fair game, Biden said.

Turning to China, Biden reiterated his intention to “ensure Taiwan can defend itself” in the event of a unilateral attack from Beijing. But he also said he envisioned an improvement in relations between Washington and President Xi Jinping’s administration.

as fast as the Chinese spy balloon shot down over the east coast of the US by a US warplane.

“I think you’ll see that start to thaw very soon,” Biden said at a news conference. He reiterated his support for the “One China” policy, a deliberately ambiguous relationship that officially recognized mainland China while simultaneously recognizing Taiwan as a self-governing island.

Biden’s words may have been intended to tone down the stern language in a communiqué issued by the G-7 a day earlier that berated China and angered Xi’s government, which said the democracies were interfering in the China’s internal affairs.

During the three-day summit in the Japanese city destroyed by a US nuclear bomb during World War II, which killed 140,000 people, Biden saw a slice of diplomatic rapprochement between traditional rivals South Korea and Japan.

Enmity between the two over Japan’s treatment of Koreans during Japanese colonial rule and the war has persisted. But South Korean President Yoon

Suk Yeol Suk Yeol

and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have taken steps toward reconciliation, and Biden invited both to a rare trilateral meeting in Washington at a date to be determined. Both men agreed, a senior official said.

After pledging that the danger of a US default on his debt would not overshadow the summit, Biden returned to the subject on Sunday.

He said he believed he had the authority under the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution to unilaterally guarantee debts are paid, though he acknowledged there would likely be legal challenges to such an effort.

While he can’t predict what House Republicans will do, he said he would take phone calls later Sunday with Speaker Kevin McCarthy aboard Air Force One upon his return home.

Later in Washington, McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) said on Capitol Hill that the two men had a “productive” phone call and would meet in person on Monday.

Subramanian reported from Hiroshima and Wilkinson from Washington.