Obama heads for G7 summit focused on Ukraine

President Barack Obama left Washington late Saturday headed for a G7 summit in southern Germany focused on violence in eastern Ukraine.

Due in the Bavarian mountains Sunday, the US president is set to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of the start of the gathering of leaders from the world's seven most industrialized countries, which will also discuss efforts to combat climate change.

With Russian President Vladimir Putin absent, having been excluded from the G8 after Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014, the Obama administration is calling for continued pressure on Moscow, accused of backing a separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine.

"It's very important coming out of these G7 meetings that the world is seen as speaking with one voice in support of those important consequences that have been imposed on Russia," said Obama adviser Ben Rhodes.

"Russia will continue to face those sanctions until a solution is fully implemented."

On the sidelines of the summit, Obama will meet Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to discuss developments there and US efforts to support the country's forces.

The United States is leading an international coalition that is conducting air strikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, while also helping to train Iraqi forces.

But it suffered a major setback on May 17, when IS fighters captured Ramadi city in Iraq's Sunni heartland, after its defenders fled.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has publicly questioned the Iraqis' will to fight, and the US strategy has come under scrutiny.

But the White House has cautioned that no new announcements should be expected on US strategy fighting IS.

Ahead of a Paris conference on climate change in December, seeking to clinch a global accord, G7 leaders will also try to agree on concrete steps.

"The G7 has the opportunity to move the world closer to a success in Paris by clearly stating its support for a strong international agreement that includes a long-term goal to phase out greenhouse gases by mid-century," Jennifer Morgan of the World Resources Institute told AFP.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius spoke in Le Monde newspaper of "a major investment plan" in renewable energy for the African continent and of a new alert system for disasters affecting the most vulnerable countries.

Obama, who has stressed the threat that global warming poses to health and security, hopes to add a climate accord to his legacy a year before leaving the White House.

The president is due to speak at a press conference late Monday at the end of the summit at Elmau Castle, which sits on a plateau some 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) high. An imposing police presence has been deployed.