Day 2 of the 2021 G7 summit

It’s rare to get a glimpse into what is actually said between leaders at G7 meetings, beyond the polished communiqués that are ultimately delivered, showing a united front.

It’s even rarer to know what might have happened at the dinner parties, other than what was on the menu and what everyone wore.

But Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project in Cornwall, England – where world leaders mingled last night with business executives and even the Queen – left the party with a sense of optimism about action on climate change.

The dinner was held in one of the project’s biomes — a greenhouse dome made up of hexagonal windows – surrounded by the beauty of plants and flowers found from the Mediterranean, South Africa, California and Western Australia.

“It was delightful to see a bunch of human beings that happen to lead really powerful countries relaxing, laughing, appreciating — and it made you hopeful. The conversations I was privileged to overhear made me also feel that under the surface there’s a lot going on which isn’t about self-interest – there’s a lot that is – but there’s a lot that isn’t," he said.

Smit said he heard positive remarks from business leaders around the "Terra Carter," a roadmap launched by Charles, the Prince of Wales, for businesses and financial markets to move towards sustainability.

“When I saw those business guys from his Royal Highness’ team talking about the Terra Carta – and these were people in the room responsible for $15 trillion or more in investment – and they’re saying ‘I’ve put up with 15, 16, 18 months of being bashed over the head by my grandchildren and children,’ there is no case to dispute. We’ve just got to do something, so it’s now about how we organize ourselves," he said.

"And I got a real sense that this is not a moment that we would speak of in years time of another missed opportunity. I had a real sense of serious intent. If only because the joy of being in nature in Eden seemed to put it in starker relief. You knew what you could be losing standing next to all that beauty," Smit said.

The United States says it will be a lead partner in a new global, climate-friendly infrastructure program with its Group of 7 partners, part of President Joe Biden's larger efforts at the G7 summit to better position the US and its allies to compete with China in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

Confronting China's authoritarianism, however, emerged as a source of contention between the leaders.

Here are key things to know about the initiative:

China's Belt and Road Initiative, first announced in 2013 under Chinese President Xi Jinping, aims to build ports, roads and railways to create new trade corridors linking China to Africa and the rest of Eurasia. The Chinese-funded, cross-continental infrastructure initiative has been seen as an extension of the country's sharp ascent to global power.

Officials described the global infrastructure pitch not as a confrontation with China, but as an alternative path.

Read more about the initiative here.

The second day of the G7 summit is still underway, but attention is starting to turn to US President Joe Biden's meeting with the Queen tomorrow before he departs for Brussels for the NATO summit.

Biden is in for quite a treat when he and his wife, "Jill from Philly," stop by Windsor Castle Sunday.

To welcome the 46th President, Elizabeth is treating him to an honor guard formed of the Grenadier Guards in the castle's famous quad, Buckingham Palace has announced. The guards — one of the British Army's longest-serving units — will give a Royal Salute, and the US National Anthem will be played.

The Queen has hosted four other presidents at Windsor:

The President will then inspect the troops before rejoining the Queen and first lady to watch the military march-past. Afterward, the group will head into the castle for tea. During our chat with Prince Edward, he discussed the opportunity Biden has in meeting his mother and how others have reacted to spending time with her.

Ahead of the weekend's big meeting, the royals undertook something of a charm offensive at the G7 in Cornwall. The Queen, Prince Charles and Camilla, as well as William and Catherine, descended upon the summit for a reception at the world-famous Eden Project, a striking collection of biomes, one of which is home to the largest indoor rainforest on Earth.

Read more about tomorrow's event.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres agreed on the need for “joined-up global action on issues like pandemic preparedness and climate change,” at a meeting between the two on Saturday at the G7 Summit in Cornwall, England. 

According to a Downing Street spokesperson: Johnson gave his support to Secretary Guterres’ “vision for a more integrated UN.”

Here are some more details from the meeting:

US President Joe Biden appeared relaxed when he arrived to the G7 summit alongside his wife on Friday. Under light drizzle, Jill Biden likened the meet-and-greet to a wedding.

Later, as the leaders emerged in a pack from the bayside resort where the summit is being held, the group was smiling broadly alongside Biden as they made their way to have their traditional "family photo" taken before the first session.

Making his way back indoors, Biden walked arm-in-arm with French President Emmanuel Macron — who hosted the last in-person G7 meeting on the Atlantic coast in 2019, which devolved partly into an argument led by former US President Donald Trump over whether to allow Russia to rejoin the group.

Macron and Biden ended up walking so slowly in each other's arms that other leaders, including Canada's Justin Trudeau, had to circle around them to get inside.

As the afternoon wore on, Biden held a "pull-aside" meeting with Macron, which onlookers described as intense but collegial. They met more formally on Saturday.

Macron's 2019 summit in Biarritz was the third G7 that Trump attended, and the third to demonstrate serious strain with other world leaders.

At his first G7 summit, held cliffside in Sicily, his fellow leaders all nudged Trump to remain in the Paris climate accord. Aides said he felt ganged up on and announced a US withdrawal from the pact a few months later.

Signs the 45th President wasn't exactly fitting in were rampant. As other leaders strolled through the summit venue to a photo-op, Trump rode separately in a golf cart.

The next year, the G7 summit hosted by Trudeau in the northern woods of Quebec ended in disarray after Trump, having left early, announced from his departing flight he was withdrawing his signature from the concluding statement.

He told reporters before he left that his relations with G7 leaders were "10 out of 10," and scoffed at suggestions he was more looking forward to his next engagement, with North Korea's Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

But the images of that summit of a scowling Trump, arms crossed, being pressed by leaders including Merkel over the summit communiqué became the iconic images of an isolated US president.

Read the full story below:

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Biden causes sighs of relief among world leaders even as G7 divisions linger

US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron held their first formal in-person meeting beside the sea on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Carbis Bay, England.

"We have some things we have to talk about a bit later; things are going, I think, well, and we're — as we say back in the United States — we are on the same page. Thank you," Biden told reporters during their bilateral meeting.

Macron said cooperation is key to battle the pandemic and climate change. The French president noted he appreciates having the US as part of the “club” with other G7 countries, following a more fraught relationship with the US under former President Donald Trump. 

Biden reiterated that the US "is back" and that he believes a lot can be done on the world stage. The US President also noted his country feels "very strongly about the cohesion" of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and expressed that the European Union is “incredibly strong and vibrant.”

Asked if allies think America is back, Biden looked at Macron and said, “Ask him,” to which Macron replied in the affirmative: “Definitely.”

The US and French leaders held a pull-aside during Friday's summit session, but today's bilateral was their first formal one-on-one in-person meeting.  

“The Leaders discussed a range of regional and bilateral issues, including COVID-19 and counterterrorism efforts in the Sahel, and affirmed the importance of the U.S.-France partnership and the Transatlantic alliance,” a White House spokesperson said in a statement about yesterday's pull-aside.

Biden and Macron's meeting comes after CNN reported that tensions have emerged at the summit with regards to China. While officials at the summit see infrastructure as an area of agreement during the gathering, leaders aired serious differences over how best to approach China during a session on Saturday, according to a senior administration official.

CNN's Kevin Liptak contributed reporting to this post.

Watch the moment here:

World leaders aired serious differences over how best to approach China during a session of the G7 summit in Cornwall on Saturday, according to a senior Biden administration official.

The disagreements, aired during a session that at one point became so sensitive that all internet was shut off to the room, pitted European nations against the United States, Britain and Canada, who urged stronger action against China for its authoritarian practices, including forced labor practices in western Xinjiang province.

Officials described the China issue as one of the most challenging elements of the G7 gathering.

At one point, US President Joe Biden made a forceful call to other leaders about vocally calling out China’s anti-democratic practices, officials said, emphasizing the need to take action.

The official said Biden was joined by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron in pushing for tougher action on China. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and leaders from the European Union sought to emphasize areas of cooperation with China.

Even within those groupings, there was a spectrum of views on the matter, officials said.

Where officials did agree was on establishing an infrastructure initiative to compete with China’s Belt and Road program. 

Still, though the leaders disagreed, the session was marked by new respect among the leaders after four years of tension under former US President Donald Trump.

"These leaders really seem to like each other and respect each other, and work through where that sweet spot might be,” the senior administration official said, describing real effort at finding consensus on tricky issues, including China.

Some more context: The G7 summit formally began on Friday evening with discussion of vaccines and later a family photo. Officials said there was a sense of new unity among the group after four years of strain under Trump, marked by embraces and warm looks between the leaders. Saturday’s session delved deeper into the differences between nations than the Friday talks.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told CNN he “wholly approves” of US President Joe Biden bringing “tough messages” to a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

Asked by CNN’s Clarissa Ward whether he agrees with Biden’s assessment of Putin being a "killer," Johnson said he “certainly” thinks “President Putin has done things that are unconscionable.” 

Johnson said he is “fairly certain that Putin authorized the poisonings in Salisbury that led to the death of an innocent and a member of the British public and the attempted poisoning of the Skripals.”  

Johnson pointed to the case of jailed and poisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who he says is “in prison on trumped-up charges” and is “effectively being tortured,” an example of what happens to Putin’s enemies.  

He also said there can’t be a normalization in relations between the US and Russia until Moscow “changes its behavior.”

More on the Biden-Putin summit: The US and Russian leaders are currently not expected to hold a joint press conference following their high-stakes summit in Geneva, Switzerland Wednesday, two US officials familiar with the matter said.

The final plans are still being formulated and could change. But officials putting together the day's events said that as of Friday, no joint press conference was expected. On Saturday, the White House confirmed Biden would not join Putin after the summit for a press conference and instead the US President will hold a solo presser. As for the nature of the meeting, a White House official said they expect it to "be candid and straightforward."

CNN's Kevin Liptak and Kaitlan Collins contributed reporting to this post.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the G7 on Saturday morning, as post-Brexit tensions between Britain and the European Union threaten to overshadow the summit.

Johnson also met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel at the Carbis Bay resort, where G7 leaders have gathered for the first major in-person summit since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Britain and the bloc have been locked in heated discussions over Northern Ireland -- the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with the EU.

The EU is furious at Britain's delays to imposing new checks on some goods coming into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, while Johnson has said the protocol is putting an undue burden on businesses and having a "damaging impact" on the people of Northern Ireland. The EU has launched legal action against the UK over its unilateral attempts to extend the Brexit grace period on food imports to Northern Ireland.

The growing feud between Britain and the EU has also drawn the attention of US President Joe Biden, concerned that it risks inflaming tensions on the island of Ireland and poses a threat to Northern Ireland's peace deal, which was brokered by the US in 1998.

Downing Street said on Saturday that EU leaders would continue discussions to seek a resolution to issues over the Northern Ireland Protocol, and that Johnson had called for "compromise on all sides."

Following Johnson's talks with EU leaders, a Downing Street spokesperson said: "He made clear his desire for pragmatism and compromise on all sides but underlined that protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in all its dimensions was paramount.”

Reacting on Twitter, Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU wants the “best possible relations with the UK," but urged it to “implement what we agreed on.”