Six leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) discussed Russia's war in Ukraine and the Israel-Iran conflict but failed to reach major agreements on those and many other important issues, closing a summit that sought to show how the club of wealthy nations can continue to shape global policy despite the early departure of United States (US) President Donald Trump.
The host of the meeting, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and his colleagues from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan were joined yesterday during the final sessions of the summit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO chief Mark Rutte.
"We need the support of allies and I am here. We are ready for peace negotiations, an unconditional ceasefire. I think that is very important. But for that we need pressure," Zelensky said.
G7 leaders, without Trump, agreed to work together to combat what they called anti-market policies that could threaten global access to critical minerals.
They also pledged to limit the negative impact of artificial intelligence on jobs and the environment while harnessing its potential for a "technological revolution."
There was no consensus on other issues, and although the summit was supposed to demonstrate unity on major global issues, no joint statement was issued on the conflict in Ukraine.
Zelensky was scheduled to meet Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada, in the mountain town of Kananaskis, but that was canceled. The US also earlier signed an agreement with Ukraine that gives America access to Ukraine's vast mineral resources.
A senior Canadian official told reporters at the summit briefing that the US opposed the joint statement on Ukraine while seeking to promote negotiations with Russia.
The official said it was only on the first day of the summit on Monday that it became clear that there would be no joint statement, although other participants had indicated that there was no serious agreement that would be accepted by consensus.
Later, the Canadian Prime Minister's spokeswoman, Emily Williams, retracted that statement made at the briefing and said that no proposed statement on Ukraine had been shared with other leaders.
In Trump's absence, the other six leaders held an extended session on Ukraine. Since there was no unanimous position, individual leaders also met separately with Zelensky to assure him of their support.
The summit also loomed over a conflict over Iran's nuclear program that could escalate. Israel launched an air campaign against Iran on June 13, saying it was trying to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, and Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel.
French President Emmanuel Macron has warned the US and other powers against pushing for regime change in Iran, suggesting it could destabilize the wider Middle East region.
"I believe that the biggest mistake today would be to advocate for regime change in Iran by military means, as that would lead to chaos," Macron said.
Before leaving after the first day of the summit on Monday, Trump joined other leaders in a joint statement saying Iran "can never have a nuclear weapon" and calling for "de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza."
Achieving unanimous support for even a short and rather generally formulated statement represents a modest success, the AP agency estimates.
Macron said that Canadian Prime Minister Carney had fulfilled his mission as host of the G7 by preserving the unity of the multilateral body.
"We should not ask the Canadian presidency to solve every issue in the world today. That would be unfair," said Macron, who will host the G7 next year.
Carney said in his closing remarks last night that Trump's early departure was due to the "extraordinary" situation in the Middle East and not because of anything that happened at the summit.
"There was no problem. Trump felt it was better to be in Washington, and I can understand that," Carney said.
Carney said Canada would impose new economic sanctions on Russia and was issuing a statement offering "strong support for a secure and sovereign Ukraine."
Asked whether the US had pushed to tone down any possible joint statement from the gathered leaders on Ukraine, Carney said he had consulted with Trump while preparing the text his country used.
However, Trump's departure only served to increase the drama of a world where several major conflicts are on the verge of flaring up, and contributed to a summit from which the world's most-watched leader left early.
Trump stated before leaving that he had done everything he had to do at the G7, but, as the AP reports, things were awkward even before his departure.
After the famous image from the 7 G2018 summit, also in Canada, where Trump and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel displayed hostile body language, this year's edition of the group's summit featured a dramatic eye roll from Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni as French President Emmanuel Macron whispered something to her during a roundtable discussion on Monday.
Then concerns about the Russian-Ukrainian war, little progress on the conflict in Gaza, and now the situation in Iran have made the atmosphere even more tense, especially after Trump's introduction of high tariffs on a large number of countries, which risks a global economic war.
Members of Trump's trade team remained in Canada to discuss tariffs, including Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, who sat at the table as world leaders met with Zelensky.
Trump's stance on Ukraine was fundamentally at odds with other G7 leaders, who are clear that Russia is the aggressor in that war. The US refused to join sanctions against Russia, and Trump said: "When I impose sanctions on a country, it costs the US a lot of money, a lot of money."
Trump said at the summit that there would be no war in Ukraine if G7 members had not expelled Russia from the organization in 2014 for its annexation of Crimea.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the G7 now looks "very pale and completely useless" compared, for example, to formats such as the G20.
In addition, the US president has given higher priority to voicing his objections to the trade policies of other countries than to cooperating with G7 allies.
He has imposed tariffs of 50 percent on steel and aluminum, as well as 25 percent on cars. Trump also imposes a 9 percent tariff on imports from most countries, and could raise tariffs on July 90 when a XNUMX-day negotiation period he allowed expires.
One bright spot for Trump during the summit was when he and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a framework trade agreement that was announced earlier in May. Trump said that British trade was "very well protected" because, he added, "he likes them," and that it represented "the greatest protection."
When he announced the deal, Trump waved the pages and they fell out, and Starmer bent down to pick them up. The British prime minister later said that he picked up the pages because the sudden approach of anyone else could scare off Trump's security, who have very strict measures about how close anyone can get to the president.
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