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KANANASKIS, Alberta: Six of the Group of Seven leaders were wrapping up their summit on Tuesday, attempting to prove that 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 Zelensky and NATO chief Mark Rutte and discussed Russia’s relentless war on its neighbor at what has essentially become just the G6.
Zelensky said of overnight Russian attacks that killed 15 people and injured 150-plus in his country “our families had a very difficult night, one of the biggest attacks from the very beginning of this war.”
“We need support from allies and I’m here,” Zelensky said. He added, “We are ready for the peace negotiations, unconditional ceasefire. I think it’s very important. But for this, we need pressure.”
Carney said the attack “underscores the importance of standing in total solidarity with Ukraine, with the Ukrainian people” and pledged $2 billion in new aid that would fund drones and other military items.
Numerous meetings continued, and the remaining leaders agreed to jointly attempt to combat what they called non-market policies that could jeopardize global access to critical minerals.
They similarly pledged to limit the potential downsides of artificial intelligence on jobs and the environment while still embracing the potential of the “technological revolution.”
But, notably, the leaders did not release any joint statements on Russia’s war in Ukraine. Zelensky had been set to meet with Trump while world leaders were gathering in the Canadian Rocky Mountain resort of Kananaskis, but that was scrapped.
The US previously signed an agreement granting American access to Ukraine’s vast mineral resources amid Russia’s ongoing war in Zelensky’s country.
The summit opened with the specific goal of helping to defuse a series of pressure points, only to be disrupted by a showdown over Iran’s nuclear program that could escalate. Israel launched an aerial bombardment campaign against Iran and Iran has hit back with missiles and drones.
Trump departed before the final day began. As conflict between Israel and Iran intensified, he declared that Tehran should be evacuated “immediately” and has demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”
Before leaving, 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 summit 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,” he said.
Still, Trump’s departure only heightened the drama of a world on the verge of several firestorms — and of a summit now without its most-watched world leader.
“We did everything I had to do at the G7,” Trump said while flying back to Washington.
Things were getting awkward even before he 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 Emmanuel Macron whispered something in her ear during a Monday roundtable.
That, and concerns about the Russia-Ukraine war, little progress on the conflict in Gaza and now the situation in Iran 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 nonetheless remained in Canada, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council. Bessent sat at the table as other world leaders met Tuesday with Zelensky, representing the US
Trump’s stance on Ukraine puts him fundamentally at odds with the other G7 leaders, who are clear that Russia is the aggressor in the war. Trump again offered his often-repeated claims on Monday that there would have been no war if G7 members hadn’t expelled Putin from the organization in 2014 for annexing Crimea.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the G7 now looks “very pale and quite useless” compared to “for example, such formats as the G20.”
With talks on ending the war in Ukraine at an impasse, Britain, Canada and other G7 members slapped new tariffs on Russia in a bid to get it to the ceasefire negotiating table. Trump, though, declined to join in those sanctions, saying he would wait until Europe did so first.
“When I sanction a country, that costs the US a lot of money, a tremendous amount of money,” he said.
Trump also seemed to put a greater priority on addressing his grievances with other nations’ trade policies than on collaboration with G7 allies. He has imposed 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum, as well as 25 percent tariffs on autos. Trump is also charging a 10 percent tax on imports from most countries, though he could raise rates on July 9, after the 90-day negotiating period set by him would expire.
Trump announced with Starmer that they had signed a trade framework Monday that was previously announced in May, with Trump saying that British trade was “very well protected’ because “I like them, that’s why. That’s their ultimate protection.”
But word of that agreement was somewhat overshadowed when Trump dropped the papers of the newly signed deal on the ground. Starmer stooped to pick them up, explaining Tuesday that he was compelled to ditch diplomatic decorum, since anyone else trying to help risked being shot by the president’s security team.
“There were quite strict rules about who can get close to the president,” Starmer told reporters on Tuesday. “If any of you had stepped forward other than me … I was just deeply conscious that in a situation like that it would not have been good for anybody else to have stepped forward.”