KANANASKIS, Alberta (AP) — Six of the Group of Seven leaders had been making an attempt. as their summit wraps up Tuesday, to indicate the rich nations’ membership nonetheless has the clout to form world occasions regardless of the early departure of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his counterparts from the U.Ok., France, Germany, Italy and Japan had been joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO chief Mark Rutte to debate Russia’s relentless war on its neighbor at what has conspicuously change into simply the G6.
Zelenskyy stated in a single day Russian attacks that authorities stated had killed 15 folks and injured 150-plus in his nation affected “simply folks” and “our households had a really tough evening, one of many largest assaults from the very starting of this warfare.”
“We’d like assist from allies and I’m right here,” Zelenskyy stated.
World leaders had gathered in Canada with the precise purpose of serving to to defuse a sequence of stress factors, solely to be disrupted by a showdown over Iran’s nuclear program that might escalate in harmful and uncontrollable methods. Israel launched an aerial bombardment marketing campaign in opposition to Iran on Friday, and Iran has hit again with missiles and drones.
Trump departed a day early from the summit within the Canadian Rocky Mountain resort of Kananaskis. As conflict between Israel and Iran intensified, he declared that Tehran needs to be evacuated “instantly” — whereas additionally expressing optimism a couple of deal to cease the violence.
Earlier than departing late Monday night, Trump joined the opposite leaders in issuing an announcement saying Iran “can by no means have a nuclear weapon” and calling for a “de-escalation of hostilities within the Center East, together with a ceasefire in Gaza.” Getting unanimity — even on a brief and broadly worded assertion — was a modest measure of success for the group.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that he sat subsequent to Trump at Monday evening’s dinner and “I’ve little doubt, in my thoughts, the extent of settlement there was in relation to the phrases that had been then issued instantly after that.”
Nonetheless, Trump’s departure solely heightened the drama of a world on the verge of a number of firestorms — and of a submit now with out its most-watched world chief.
Issues had been getting awkward even earlier than Trump left. After the famous photo from the G7 in 2018 featured Trump and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel displaying less-than-friendly physique language, this yr’s version included a dramatic eye-roll by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as French President Emanuel Macron whispered one thing in her ear throughout a Monday roundtable.
That, and the very actual considerations concerning the Russia-Ukraine warfare, little progress on the battle in Gaza and now Iran-Israel have made issues all of the extra geopolitically tense — particularly after Trump imposed severe tariffs on a number of nations that threat a worldwide financial slowdown.
Members of Trump’s commerce staff remained in Canada, together with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer and Kevin Hassett director of the Nationwide Financial Council. Bessent sat the desk as different world leaders met Tuesday with Zelenskyy, representing the U.S. on the gathering.
On the in a single day flight again to Washington, Trump nonetheless dismissed considerations about his determination to skip a sequence of conferences that will deal with the warfare in Ukraine and commerce points.
“We did all the things I needed to do on the G7,” he stated aboard Air Power One. “We had a very good G7.”
Trump’s stance on Ukraine places him basically at odds with the opposite G7 leaders, who again Ukraine and are clear that Russia is the aggressor within the warfare. Trump once more supplied his often-repeated claims on Monday that there would have been no warfare if G7 members hadn’t expelled Putin from the group in 2014 for annexing Crimea.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday stated the G7 appears “very pale and fairly ineffective” in comparison with “for instance, such codecs because the G20.”
With talks on ending the warfare in Ukraine at an deadlock, Britain, Canada and different G7 members had been slapping new tariffs on Russia in a bid to get it to the ceasefire negotiating desk. Zelenskyy is because of attend the summit Tuesday at Carney’s invitation, together with different leaders, together with Rutte and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Trump declined to affix within the sanctions on Russia, saying he would wait till Europe did so first.
“After I sanction a rustic, that prices the U.S. some huge cash, an amazing sum of money,” he stated.
Trump had been scheduled earlier than his departure to satisfy with Zelenskyy and with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
On the Center East, German Friedrich Merz instructed reporters that Germany was planning to attract up a ultimate communique proposal on the Israel-Iran battle that may stress that “Iran should in no way be allowed to accumulate nuclear weapons-capable materials.”
European Council President Antonio Costa, from left, Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, U.S. President Donald Trump, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen pose for a household picture throughout the G7 Summit, in Kananaskis, Alberta, Monday, June 16, 2025. (Suzanne Plunkett/Pool Picture by way of AP)
Trump additionally appeared to place a higher precedence on addressing his grievances with different nations’ commerce insurance policies than on collaboration with G7 allies. The U.S. president has imposed 50% tariffs on metal and aluminum in addition to 25% tariffs on autos. Trump can also be charging a ten% tax on imports from most international locations, although he may elevate charges on July 9, after the 90-day negotiating interval set by him would expire.
He introduced with Starmer that that they had signed a trade framework Monday that was beforehand introduced in Might, with Trump saying that British commerce was “very nicely protected’ as a result of ”I like them, that’s why. That’s their final safety.”
However even phrase of that settlement was considerably overshadowed when Trump dropped the papers of the newly signed deal on the bottom. Starmer stooped to choose them up, explaining Tuesday that he was compelled to ditch diplomatic decorum, since anybody else making an attempt to assist risked being shot by the president’s safety staff.
“There have been fairly strict guidelines about who can get near the president,” Starmer instructed reporters on Tuesday. “If any of you had stepped ahead apart from me … I used to be simply deeply aware that in a scenario like that it might not have been good for anyone else to have stepped ahead.”
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Related Press writers Josh Boak in Calgary, Alberta and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.
