G-7 leaders try to salvage their summit after Trump’s early exit

KANANASKIS, Canada — Six of the Group of 7 leaders were doing their best Tuesday to wrap up their summit strong and prove that their wealthy nations’ club still has the clout to shape world events despite the early departure of President Trump.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his counterparts from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Japan were joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO chief Mark Rutte and discussed Russia’s relentless war on its neighbor at what has essentially become the G-6.

Zelensky said of overnight Russian attacks that killed 15 people and injured more than 150 in his country: “Our families had a very difficult night, one of the biggest attacks from the very beginning of this war.

“We need support from allies and I’m here,” Zelensky said.

He added: “We are ready for the peace negotiations, unconditional ceasefire. I think it’s very important. But for this, we need pressure.”

Carney said the attack “underscores the importance of standing in total solidarity with Ukraine, with the Ukrainian people” and pledged $2 billion in new aid that would fund drones and other military equipment.

Ukraine’s president had been set to meet with Trump while world leaders were gathering in the Canadian Rocky Mountain resort of Kananaskis, but that was scrapped, as was Trump’s planned sit-down with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

The summit opened with the specific goal of helping to defuse a series of pressure points, only to be disrupted by a showdown over Iran’s nuclear program that could escalate in dangerous and uncontrollable ways. Israel launched an aerial bombardment campaign against Iran on Friday, and Iran has hit back with missiles and drones.

Trump departed before the final day began. As the conflict between Israel and Iran intensified, he declared that Tehran should be evacuated immediately and has demanded Iran’s unconditional surrender.

Before departing late Monday evening, Trump joined the other leaders in issuing a statement saying Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon” and calling for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza.” Getting unanimity — even on a short and broadly worded statement — was a modest measure of success for the group.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he sat next to Trump at Monday night’s dinner and that “I’ve no doubt, in my mind, the level of agreement there was in relation to the words that were then issued immediately after that.”

Still, Trump’s departure only heightened the drama of a world on the verge of several firestorms — and of a summit now without its most-watched world leader.

Things were getting awkward even before Trump left. After the famous photo from the G-7 in 2018 featured Trump and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel displaying less-than-friendly body language, this year’s edition included a dramatic eye roll by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as French President Emmanuel Macron whispered something in her ear during a Monday roundtable.

That and the very real concerns about the Russia-Ukraine war, little progress on the conflict in Gaza and now Iran-Israel have made things all the more geopolitically tense — especially after Trump imposed severe tariffs on multiple nations that risk a global economic slowdown.

Members of Trump’s trade team remained in Canada, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council. Bessent sat at the table as other world leaders met Tuesday with Zelensky, representing the U.S.

On the overnight flight back to Washington, Trump brushed off concerns about his decision to skip a series of meetings that would address the war in Ukraine and trade issues.

“We did everything I had to do at the G-7,” he said. “We had a good G-7.”

Trump’s stance on Ukraine puts him fundamentally at odds with the other G-7 leaders, who are clear that Russia is the aggressor in the war. Trump again offered his often-repeated claims Monday that there would have been no war if G-7 members hadn’t expelled Putin from the organization in 2014 for annexing Crimea.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the G-7 now looks “very pale and quite useless” compared with “for example, such formats as the G-20.”

With talks on ending the war in Ukraine at an impasse, Britain, Canada and other G-7 members slapped new tariffs on Russia in a bid to get it to the ceasefire negotiating table. Trump, though, declined to join in those sanctions, saying he would wait until Europe did so first.

“When I sanction a country, that costs the U.S. a lot of money, a tremendous amount of money,” he said.

On the Middle East, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his country was planning a final communique proposal on the Israel-Iran conflict, stressing that “Iran must under no circumstances be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons-capable material.”

Trump also seemed to put a greater priority on addressing his grievances with other nations’ trade policies than on collaboration with G-7 allies. He has imposed 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum as well as 25% tariffs on autos. Trump is also charging a 10% tax on imports from most countries, though he could raise rates on July 9, after the 90-day negotiating period set by him would expire.

Trump announced with Starmer that they had signed a trade framework Monday that was previously announced in May, with Trump saying that British trade was “very well protected” because “I like them, that’s why. That’s their ultimate protection.”

But word of that agreement was somewhat overshadowed when Trump dropped the papers of the newly signed deal on the ground. Starmer stooped to pick them up, explaining Tuesday that he was compelled to ditch diplomatic decorum, because anyone else trying to help risked being shot by the president’s security team.

“There were quite strict rules about who can get close to the president,” Starmer told reporters. “If any of you had stepped forward other than me … I was just deeply conscious that in a situation like that it would not have been good for anybody else to have stepped forward.”

Gillies, Lawless and Weissert write for the Associated Press. AP writers Josh Boak in Calgary, Canada, and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.