Trump leaves G7 summit early due to Middle East situation
US President Donald Trump left the Group of Seven summit in Canada a day early due to the situation in the Middle East, the White House said on Monday.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump had made an offer for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
Trump had earlier urged everyone to immediately evacuate Tehran, and reiterated that Iran should have signed a nuclear deal with the United States.
"Much was accomplished, but because of what's going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X.
The G7 has struggled to find unity over conflicts in Ukraine and between Israel and Iran as Trump overtly expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and has imposed tariffs on many of the allies present.
Trump did agree to a group statement calling for de-escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict. "We urge that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza," the statement said.
The G7 expressed support for Israel, saying it has the right to defend itself and labelled its rival Iran as a source of instability in the Middle East.
Macron said Trump's departure was positive, given the objective to get a ceasefire. "There is indeed an offer to meet and exchange. An offer was made especially to get a ceasefire and to then kick-start broader discussions," he told reporters. "We have to see now whether the sides will follow."
G7 leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the US, along with the European Union, had convened in the resort area of Kananaskis in the Canadian Rockies until Tuesday.
Speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier, Trump said the former Group of Eight had been wrong to kick out Russia in 2014 after it annexed Crimea.
"This was a big mistake," Trump said, adding he believed Russia would not have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Putin not been ejected. "Putin speaks to me. He doesn't speak to anybody else... he's not a happy person about it. I can tell you that he basically doesn't even speak to the people that threw him out, and I agree with him," Trump said.
Though Trump stopped short of saying Russia should be reinstated in the group, his comments had raised doubts about how much Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy can achieve when he is scheduled to meet the leaders on Tuesday.
"It was a rough start," said Josh Lipsky, a former senior IMF official who now chairs the international economics department at the Atlantic Council.
European nations had wanted to persuade Trump to back tougher sanctions on Moscow.
A spokesperson for the Ukraine embassy in Canada said Zelenskyy was still planning to come to Canada.
Canada has abandoned any effort to adopt a comprehensive communique to avert a repeat of the 2018 summit in Quebec, when Trump instructed the US delegation to withdraw its approval of the final communique after leaving.
Leaders have prepared several draft documents seen by Reuters, including on migration, artificial intelligence, and critical minerals. None of them have been approved by the United States, however, according to sources briefed on the documents.
Without Trump, it is unclear if there will be any declarations, a European diplomat said.
Carney invited non-G7 members Mexico, India, Australia, South Africa, South Korea and Brazil, as well as Ukraine.
TARIFFS
Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday they had finalized a trade deal reached between the two allies last month, making Britain the first country to agree to a deal for lower US tariffs.
Carney said in a statement he had agreed with Trump that their two nations should try to wrap up a new economic and security deal within 30 days.
Trump said a new economic deal with host Canada was possible but stressed tariffs had to play a role, a position the Canadian government strongly opposes.
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However, Trump, admittedly, was complicit and engaged in a deceptive campaign to allow Israel to wage its war and bomb nuclear sites two days before their scheduled meeting. The deception worked. Israel carried out a massive decapitation strike on 13 June, assassinating over 20 senior Iranian military figures. The goal was not only to derail the talks and destroy Iran's mature nuclear programme, but to cripple Iran's military leadership and nuclear experts - in the hope of sparking regime change. By allowing Israel to bomb Iran, Trump is pushing Tehran to go nuclear Read More » As Netanyahu rejoiced and Israelis gloated, Trump tried to take some credit as many pundits and politicians were revelling and writing the Islamic Republic's obituary. But as Mark Twain once quipped: "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." History teaches us that it is not who fires the first shot that wins, but the one who fires the last. If one were to determine the victors during the following dates in these conflicts - such as the Iraq-Iran war in October 1980, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in August 1982, or the American invasions of Afghanistan in October 2001 and Iraq in March 2003 - they would have wrongly predicted the outcome in every case. However, in the current conflict, Iran responded swiftly and forcefully. Within hours, Iran's supreme leader appointed new commanders, who launched a massive barrage of ballistic missiles and drones in retaliation, targeting Tel Aviv, Haifa and other Israeli cities. The scope and scale of the response were unprecedented in Israel's history. Suddenly, the Zionist regime found itself paralysed. Millions of its people were forced into bomb shelters. The vaunted Iron Dome defence system was overwhelmed. Netanyahu's calls for regime change in Iran, once brash and confident, now sounded desperate and fraught. Boxed in Israel faces a grim strategic dilemma. It cannot destroy Iran's nuclear programme without US military help. It cannot induce regime change - a feat the US has failed to achieve despite decades of effort. Thus, Netanyahu is frantically trying to pull the US into war. On the other hand, Trump faces serious constraints. His base - the "Maga" movement - strongly opposes another Middle Eastern conflict. A war with Iran could jeopardise his domestic agenda and inflame tensions with geopolitical rivals like China. Moreover, US assets in the region are vulnerable. There are 90,000 US troops (mostly in support and logistical roles rather than combat) stationed across dozens of bases, many within Iran's missile range. A wider conflict could prompt Iran to block the Strait of Hormuz, through which 21 percent of global oil passes, or attack oil fields across the Gulf - potentially causing a global economic crisis. If Netanyahu fails to draw the US into the war, and cannot dismantle Iran's nuclear capability or cause regime collapse, Israel's deterrence will be permanently weakened Israel has boxed itself in. It defines its victory as either the dismantlement of Iran's nuclear programme or the fall of the regime. Anything less will be a crushing defeat. So, Netanyahu is once again trying to manipulate a US president. But the stakes are now dangerously high. There are three main scenarios that could unfold: 1) A prolonged war of attrition: In this scenario, Israel and Iran engage in a grinding conflict that remains contained. Iran absorbs the damage and continues to strike Israeli targets, eventually emerging as the prevailing party as Israel is battered and fails to curtail Iran's nuclear capabilities. As its nuclear activities survive, its regional influence is not only restored, but also grows. 2) US intervention: America is drawn into the war, seeking to destroy Iran's nuclear programme and force Tehran into a new agreement. But this could destabilise the global economy and is unlikely to achieve its aims, given Iran's ideology and its strategic ties to Russia and China. 3) Regional conflagration: A full-blown regional war draws in multiple actors, shatters existing rules of engagement, and possibly ignites a global conflict. Some analysts have warned that this could mark the beginning of World War Three. If Netanyahu fails to draw the US into the war, and cannot dismantle Iran's nuclear capability or cause regime collapse, Israel's deterrence will be permanently weakened. Ironically, such a blow may also force Israel to end its devastating genocidal war on Gaza and abandon its quest for unchallenged regional hegemony. As Vladimir Lenin once observed: "There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen." In the weeks ahead, the world may be living through one of those historic times that may define the region for decades to come. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
