The grinding wars in Ukraine and Gaza are likely to dominate the agenda at the annual Group of Seven summit in Italy.

       The three-day summit will be held Thursday through Saturday at a luxury resort, the Borgo Egnazia in southern Italy’s Puglia region, and will include leaders of the European Union and the G-7′s member states: the United States, Canada, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy and Japan.

       Italy as the host country has invited other notable guests for the summit including Pope Francis, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and King Abdullah II of Jordan.

       The forum is meeting in the aftermath of European Union Parliament elections where the far-right parties, including that of Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, registered significant gains.

       Here’s what’s on the agenda.

       The United States will sign a 10-year bilateral security agreement with Ukraine, committing to continued supply of military assistance to Kyiv, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said. President Biden is scheduled to meet Zelensky on Thursday, and the leaders will hold a joint news conference after signing the agreement.

       “We want to demonstrate that the U.S. supports the people of Ukraine, that we stand with them, and that we’ll continue to help address their security needs not just tomorrow but out into the future,” Sullivan told reporters on Air Force One. The agreement, Sullivan added, is intended to send a message to Russia that it cannot outlast the coalition in support of Ukraine.

       The deal does not include deployment of American troops in Ukraine, said an administration official speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details of the agreement before they have been made public. It also does not mention a dollar sum of support.

       Separately, another priority of the G-7 leadership will be to come together to find ways to use profits from frozen Russian assets for a $50 billion loan to Ukraine.

       Ahead of the G-7 meeting, the Treasury Department announced a new round of sweeping sanctions on Russia including a sanctions risk for foreign banks dealing with Russian banks or individuals.

       The second meeting of the forum scheduled Thursday is set to discuss cease-fire efforts in the Middle East. This month, G-7 leaders endorsed the three-phase plan outlined by Biden to end the war in Gaza.

       On Tuesday, Hamas responded to the proposal, suggesting changes including the need for assurances about a permanent end to the war, according to an official with knowledge of the talks speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing diplomatic effort. “Some of the changes are workable, some are not,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Wednesday remarks in Doha, Qatar, alongside Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

       Sullivan told reporters that the United States will work with the Egyptians and Qataris to bridge the remaining gaps, adding that it was time for a cease-fire to begin.

       “The president will be consulting with G-7 leaders about the intensive efforts underway to make that happen,” he said. “He has their full backing for what he is doing.”

       The risks and challenges posed by artificial intelligence will be another focus for G-7 leaders, who last year called for international standards for AI development, aimed at reducing potential harms such as disinformation, violations of civil rights and privacy, or unethical use of data.

       On Friday, Pope Francis will speak during a session on artificial intelligence, becoming the first pontiff to participate at the G-7.

       In an address on Jan. 1, he had said expansion of such technology should seek to serve human potential: “Artificial intelligence will become increasingly important. The challenges it poses are technical, but also anthropological, educational, social and political.”

       The pope was invited by Meloni to contribute “to defining a regulatory, ethical and cultural framework for artificial intelligence” as it tests the abilities of the international community, she said in a statement in April announcing his participation.

       For Meloni, the forum will provide a platform to elevate her government’s goals of tough action on illegal migration. She is expected to highlight investment in Africa as a way to create economic opportunity locally to dissuade people from undertaking risky journeys to European shores.

       “Together we will lay the foundations to build a new and mutually beneficial relationship of equals with developing nations and emerging economies, and in particular with the African continent,” she said in April, emphasizing combating human trafficking networks.

       The Africa session will kick off the G-7, touching on climate change and development.

       The West’s tensions with China and the economic security of the Indo-Pacific are also likely to be topics of discussion.

       Anthony Faiola contributed to this report.