- Managers begin discussions on the global economy, commercial differences.
- Trump not to sign a joint declaration on Israel-Iran: American manager.
- Effort in progress to put Ukraine back on Trump’s radar.
The group of seven leaders met on Monday in search of a joint approach to wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, but before the start of their summit, US President Donald Trump said that Russia’s withdrawal from the former eight group of eight more than ten years had been a mistake.
Trump’s declaration of support to Russian President Vladimir Putin was an early challenge for a slightly united grouping that had trouble finding Unity while Washington withdrew from multilateralism.
The leaders of G7 of Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, as well as the European Union, are suitable in the Kananaskis region in Canadian Rockies until Tuesday.
Speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump said that the former eight group of eight was wrong to launch Russia in 2014 after annexed Crimea.
“It was a big mistake,” said Trump, adding that he thought Russia would not have invaded Ukraine in 2022 if Putin had not been ejected.
“Putin speaks to me. He doesn’t talk to anyone else … He’s not a happy person. I can tell you that he doesn’t even talk to the people who threw him, and I agree with him,” said Trump.
His comments raise doubts about the amount that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy can realize when he meets leaders on Tuesday. European nations say they want to persuade Trump to support more difficult sanctions in Moscow.
Zelenskiy said he was planning to discuss new weapons purchases for Ukraine with Trump.
Trump spoke on Saturday with Putin and suggested that the Russian chief could play a mediation role between Israel and Iran.
French President Emmanuel Macron rejected the idea, arguing that Moscow could not be a negotiator because he had launched an illegal war against Ukraine.
A European diplomat said Trump’s suggestion has shown that Russia is in the American spirit.
European officials said they hoped to use Tuesday’s meeting with Zelenskiy and NATO secretary general Mark Rutte and the NATO summit next week to convince Trump to tighten his position.
“The G7 should have the goal for us to converge again, so that Ukraine gets a ceasefire to lead to robust and lasting peace, and in my opinion, it is a question of seeing if President Trump is ready to bring much more strict sanctions on Russia,” said Macron.
With an escalation of Israeli-Iranian conflicts, the summit in Canada is considered a vital moment to try to restore a semblance of unity among the democratic powers.
In another early sign, the group may find it difficult to reach an agreement on key issues, an American official said Trump would not sign a draft statement calling for de-escalation of the Israeli-Iranian conflict.
A Canadian official, however, said that the conflict would appear during bilateral meetings throughout the day and that he was too early to speculate on the outcome of these conversations. A senior European diplomat echoes these comments, saying that Trump had not yet made a decision.
Document of documents
Canada has abandoned any effort to adopt a full press release to avoid a rehearsal of the 2018 summit in Quebec, when Trump asked the US delegation to withdraw its approval from the final press release after its departure.
The leaders have prepared several projects of documents seen by Reuters, notably on migration, artificial intelligence and critical mineral supply chains. However, none of them has been approved by the United States, according to informed sources of documents.
Europeans are on the same wavelength on most questions, said a European diplomat. But without Trump, it is not clear if there will be statements, said the diplomat.
The first five months of Trump’s second term have turned the foreign policy over Ukraine, increased anxiety in the face of its closer ties with Russia and have led to prices on the American allies.
Monday talks will focus on the economy, advanced commercial transactions and China.
The efforts to achieve an agreement to reduce the G7 price ceiling on Russian oil, even if Trump has decided to withdraw, was complicated by a temporary increase in oil prices since Israel launched strikes on Iran on June 12, two diplomatic sources said. Oil prices dropped reports on Monday that Iran asked for a truce.
The climbing between the two regional enemies is raised on the agenda, with diplomatic sources saying that they hope to urge the restraint and a return to diplomacy and encourage Trump to sign a declaration.
“I think there is a consensus for de -escalation. Obviously, what we have to do today is to bring this together and be clear about how it must be provoked,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told journalists.
