Leaders of the Group of Seven nations began annual talks on Monday, with wars in Ukraine and the Middle East adding to global economic uncertainty, but before their summit formally began, US president Donald Trump said removing Russia from the former Group of Eight over a decade ago had been a mistake.
Mr Trump’s overt statement of support for Russian president Vladimir Putin was an early challenge for a once tight-knit grouping that has struggled to find unity as Washington retreats from multilateralism.
The G7 leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US, along with the European Union, are convening in the resort area of Kananaskis in the Canadian Rockies until Tuesday.
With an escalating Israel-Iran conflict continuing, the summit is seen as a vital moment at which to try to restore a semblance of unity among democratic powerhouses.
Speaking alongside Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, Mr Trump said the former Group of Eight had been wrong to kick out Russia in 2014 after it had annexed Crimea.
“This was a big mistake,” Mr 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,” Mr Trump said.
His comments raise doubts about how much Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy can achieve when he meets the leaders on Tuesday. European nations say they want to persuade Mr Trump to back tougher sanctions on Moscow.
Mr Zelenskiy earlier said he planned to discuss new weapons purchases for Ukraine with Mr Trump.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump, who spoke on Saturday with Putin, suggested that the Russian leader could play a mediation role between Israel and Iran.
French president Emmanuel Macron dismissed the idea, arguing that Moscow could not be a negotiator because it had started an illegal war against Ukraine.
A European diplomat said Mr Trump’s suggestion showed that Russia was very much on US minds.
European officials said they hoped to use Tuesday’s meeting with Mr Zelenskiy and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte and next week’s Nato summit to convince Mr Trump to toughen his stance.
“The G7 should have the objective for us to converge again, for Ukraine to get a ceasefire to lead to a robust and lasting peace, and in my view it’s a question of seeing whether President Trump is ready to put forward much tougher sanctions on Russia,” Mr Macron said.
Talks on Monday centred around the economy, advancing trade deals, and China.
Efforts to reach an agreement to lower the G7 price cap on Russian oil even if Mr Trump decided to opt out have been complicated by a temporary surge in oil prices since Israel launched strikes on Iran on June 12th, two diplomatic sources said. Oil prices fell on Monday after reports Iran was seeking a truce.
The escalation between the two regional foes is high on the agenda, with diplomatic sources saying they hope to urge restraint and a return to diplomacy. – Reuters
[ Amount of aid getting into Gaza ‘minuscule’, Doctors Without Borders chief saysOpens in new window ]
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025
