G-8: Obama arrives in Northern Ireland

Kim Hjelmgaard | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Obama: N. Ireland blueprint for global conflicts President Obama says Northern Ireland provides the world with a blueprint to solve global conflicts. The President is in Northern Ireland for a G-8 Summit. (June 17)

Group of Eight summit to kick off in Northern Ireland

President Obama makes speech to youth in Belfast

War in Syria to be a major focus of summit

President Obama on Monday told Northern Ireland's youth that they live in a thoroughly modern world and urged them to sustain their peace in his first opportunity to highlight the role the U.S. has played helping bring about reconciliation in the country.

Obama arrived in Belfast on Monday morning local time, where he said in a speech, "Whenever your peace is attacked, you will have to choose whether to respond with the same bravery you've summoned so far. You will have to choose whether to keep going, forward not backward."

He was speaking at Belfast's Waterfront Hall. After his speech he will attend a two-day summit of the Group of Eight industrial economies in County Fermanagh.

"There was a time people couldn't have imagined Northern Ireland hosting a gathering of world leaders," Obama said. He said that peace in Northern Ireland is "as urgent now as it has ever been."

Obama said that Northern Ireland was "part of an island with which tens of millions of Americans share an eternal relationship."

Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia also attended the address.

Earlier, Michelle Obama told the audience, "I don't see a bunch of teenagers, I see the people who will be moving our world forward in the years ahead."

Later Monday, Obama will meet on the sidelines of the G-8 summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Topics for the two leaders range from Syria to arms control. Russia has criticized Obama's decision to arm Syrian rebels and has dismissed U.S. claims that President Bashar Assad's regime has used chemical weapons against Syrians.

The conflict in Syria may overshadow the scheduled summit, where discussions on tax and trade are due to take place.

Russia is a member of the G-8. So are Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Italy and Germany.

Contributing: Associated Press