G7 leaders forge on without Trump, Canada aids Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky secured new aid from G7 host Canada yesterday. (The Canadian Press/AP pic)
KANANASKIS : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived at the Group of Seven summit yesterday, securing new aid from host Canada for the war against Russia after US President Donald Trump left early due to developments in the Middle East.
The G7 wealthy nations struggled to find unity over the conflict in Ukraine after Trump expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and having imposed tariffs on many of the allies present.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Ottawa would provide C$2 billion (US$1.47 billion) in new military assistance for Kyiv as well as impose new financial sanctions.
A Russian attack overnight on Kyiv and other cities that killed at least 16 people 'underscores the importance of standing in total solidarity with Ukraine', Carney said.
Carney said when G7 leaders met for dinner on Monday before Trump left, they stressed the importance of using 'maximum pressure against Russia' to force it to start serious peace talks.
Zelensky said he had told the G7 leaders that 'diplomacy is now in a state of crisis' and said they need to continue calling on Trump 'to use his real influence' to force an end to the war.
'Even if the American president is not putting enough pressure on Russia right now, the truth is that America still has the broadest global interests and the largest number of allies. All of them will need strong protection,' he said in a post on his Telegram account.
Although Canada is one of Ukraine's most vocal defenders, its ability to help Kyiv is far outweighed by the US, the largest arms supplier.
Zelensky had said he hoped to talk to Trump about acquiring more weapons.
Canada dropped plans for the G7 to issue a strong statement on the war in Ukraine after resistance from the US, a Canadian official told reporters.
When the summit ends later today, Carney plans to issue a chair statement calling for more pressure on Russia through sanctions and saying the G7 backs US-led peace efforts, two G7 sources said.
Canada holds the rotating G7 presidency this year.
Other leaders do not need to sign off on G7 chair statements.
A European official said leaders had stressed to Trump their plans to be hard on Russia and Trump seemed impressed, though he does not like sanctions in principle.
Three European diplomats said they had heard signals from Trump that he wanted to raise pressure on Putin and consider a US senate bill drafted by senator Lindsey Graham, but that he had not committed to anything.
'I am returning to Germany with cautious optimism that decisions will also be made in America in the coming days to impose further sanctions against Russia,' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said.
G7 leaders agreed on six statements, about migrant smuggling, artificial intelligence, critical minerals, wildfires, transnational repression and quantum computing.
Kremlin says G7 looks 'rather useless'
Trump said on Monday he needed to be back in Washington as soon as possible due to the situation in the Middle East, where escalating attacks between Iran and Israel have raised risks of a broader regional conflict.
He later said his early departure from the summit had 'nothing to do with' working on a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, however, denying comments by French President Emmanuel Macron, who had said the US president leaving could be a sign of a potential deal.
A White House official said Trump explained that he returned to the US because it is better to hold high-level national security council meetings in person, rather than over the phone.
Trump did agree to a group statement published on Monday calling for a resolution of the Israel-Iran conflict.
The statement said Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror and that Israel has the right to defend itself.
Upon arriving at the summit on Monday, Trump said that the then Group of Eight had been wrong to expel Russia after Putin ordered the occupation of Crimea in 2014.
The Kremlin said yesterday that Trump was right and said the G7 was no longer significant for Russia and looked 'rather useless'.
Carney also invited non-G7 members Mexico, India, Australia, South Africa, South Korea and Brazil, as he tries to shore up alliances elsewhere and diversify Canada's exports away from the US.
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