AP
Kananaskis (Canada)
Six of the Group of Seven leaders were trying as their summit wraps up on Tuesday, to show the wealthy nations’ club still has the clout to shape world events despite the early departure of US President Donald Trump.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his counterparts from the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Japan were joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO chief Mark Rutte to discuss Russia’s relentless war on its neighbour at what has conspicuously become just the G6.
With talks on ending the war in Ukraine at an impasse, Britain, Canada and other G7 members were slapping new tariffs on Russia in a bid to get it to the ceasefire negotiating table. Zelenskyy is due to attend the summit at Carney’s invitation, along with other leaders, including Rutte and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
World leaders had gathered in Canada with the specific goal of helping to defuse a series of pressure points, only to be disrupted by a showdown over Iran’s nuclear programme that could escalate in dangerous and uncontrollable ways. Israel launched an aerial bombardment campaign against Iran on Friday, and Iran has hit back with missiles and drones.
Trump departed a day early from the summit in the Canadian Rocky Mountain resort of Kananaskis. As conflict between Israel and Iran intensified, he declared that Tehran should be evacuated “immediately”, while also expressing optimism about a deal to stop the violence.
Before departing late Monday evening, Trump joined the other leaders in issuing a statement saying Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon” and calling for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza.”
Getting unanimity – even on a short and broadly worded statement – was a modest measure of success for the group.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he sat next to Trump at Monday night’s dinner.
“I’ve no doubt, in my mind, the level of agreement there was in relation to the words that were then issued immediately after that.”
Still, Trump’s departure only heightened the drama of a world on the verge of several firestorms – and of a submit now without its most-watched world leader.
Things were getting awkward even before Trump left. After the famous photo from the G7 in 2018 featured Trump and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel displaying less-than-friendly body language, this year’s edition included a dramatic eye-roll by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as French President Emanuel Macron whispered something in her ear during a Monday roundtable.
That, and the very real concerns about the Russia-Ukraine war, little progress on the conflict in Gaza and now Iran-Israel have made things all the more geopolitically tense, especially after Trump imposed severe tariffs on multiple nations that risk a global economic slowdown.
Members of Trump’s trade team remained in Canada, including treasury secretary Scott Bessent, US trade representative Jamieson Greer and Kevin Hassett director of the National Economic Council. Bessent sat the table as other world leaders met Tuesday with Zelenskyy, representing the US at the gathering.
On the overnight flight back to Washington, Trump nonetheless brushed off concerns about his decision to skip a series of meetings that would address the war in Ukraine and trade issues.
“We did everything I had to do at the G7,” he said aboard Air Force One. “We had a good G7.”
