The first day of the G7 in Taormina ended with a dinner hosted by Italian President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, preceded by the Scala Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance in the stunning setting of the Greek Theater.

The summit began this morning at 11:30, with a welcome ceremony, and continued with three working sessions, on foreign and security policy, international economy and sustainable growth. At the end of the first day, leaders signed theG7 Taormina Statement on the Fight Against Terrorism and Violent Extremism.

Sessions will resume tomorrow morning when G7 leaders will be joined by the Heads of State and of Government from five African countries, as well as by representatives of various international organizations.

At the end of a G7 summit, it's customary for the nations to release a communiqué that conveys areas of consensus among the nations. Last year, when America was represented by President Obama,the missivewas 32 pages long and outlined many subjects of "common values and principles." Among other things, the group committed to take the lead on the implementation of the Paris Climate Accord.

This year, as with so much else, things are different:Today's communiquéis just six pages long.

And in the brief section on climate change, it says:

"The United States of America is in the process of reviewing its policies on climate change and on the Paris Agreement and thus is not in a position to join the consensus on these topics. Understanding this process, the Heads of State and of Government of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom and the Presidents of the European Council and of the European Commission reaffirm their strong commitment to swiftly implement the Paris Agreement, as previously stated at the Ise-Shima Summit."

"I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!" President TrumptweetedSaturday morning.

"The entire discussion about climate was very difficult, if not to say very dissatisfying," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said,according toReuters. "There are no indications whether the United States will stay in the Paris Agreement or not."

"He came here to learn," Trump's economic adviser Gary Cohn said on Friday. "He came here to get smart. His views are evolving which exactly as they should be."

The Group of 7, or G7, is comprised of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK; the European Union also participates.

As the Two-Way's Camila DomonskewroteFriday,

"The Paris accord, created in 2015 after lengthy negotiations, calls on 196 nations to ratchet back greenhouse gas emissions. The goal is to keep the rise in global temperatures no higher than 2 degrees Celsius, as compared with pre-industrial levels. ..."On the campaign trail, Trump said he would "cancel" the Paris deal. ... But since taking office, Trump has not moved to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement. He has rolled back a number of Obama-era climate change measures, which will hamper U.S. efforts to fulfill its Paris pledges. But he hasn't retracted the pledges themselves. Just this week, members of his administration indicated that the White House had not yet decided what to do on the issue."

Host nation Italy had hoped to talk about Europe's migration crisis and problems in Africa, Reuters reported; on Saturday leaders from five African nations joined the summit. In particular, Italy called for more legal paths of immigration, to staunch the flow of people risking their lives on boats from Libya.

But security concerns dominated Friday's discussion, colored by Monday's suicide bombing in Manchester that killed 22.

Doctors Without Borders issued a statement critical of the summit.

The G7 summit will host world leaders as they meet to discuss climate change, trade, migration and ties with Africa.

The Manchester bombing and conflicts in North Korea and Syria are also certain to crop up during the two-day meeting between the world’s seven major economies.

Donald Trumpwill likely use the summit to push NATO allies to "contribute their fair share”, after he berated leaders yesterday for their alleged shortcomings.

Sabuhi M.ABBASOV

Journalist