The Group of Seven summit in Canada has ended without leaders issuing a joint statement in support of Ukraine, as Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that “diplomacy is now in a state of crisis”.
The summit of major industrial democracies, which wrapped up in the Canadian Rocky Mountain resort of Kananaskis late on Tuesday, had been intended to showcase unity on major global issues.
But unlike in previous years, when the group had jointly denounced Russian “aggression” against Ukraine, this time it was unable to issue a statement in support of the embattled Western ally, in a sign of growing differences within the group amid escalating global crises.
Zelenskyy met the leaders of Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, along with NATO chief Mark Rutte, on the final day of the conference. However, a meeting with the leader of the group’s most powerful member, the United States – President Donald Trump – did not take place after he left the summit a day early to address the escalating hostilities between Israel and Iran from Washington.
Zelenskyy said after the meeting that he had told the remaining G7 leaders that “diplomacy is now in a state of crisis”, and asked them to continue calling on Trump “to use his real influence” to press for an end to the war, according to a post on his official Telegram account.
Statement on US resistance retracted
A Canadian official initially told reporters on the sidelines of the summit that plans for a joint statement on Ukraine had been dropped after meeting resistance from the US, which wanted to water down the content, news agencies reported.
But Emily Williams, a spokesperson for Canada’s prime minister, later retracted the briefing statement and said “no proposed statement regarding Ukraine was distributed to other leaders”, agencies reported.
A Canadian official said there had never been an attempt to issue a joint statement on Ukraine because of Trump’s wishes to continue negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the AFP news agency reported.
“It was clear that it would not have been feasible to find detailed language that all G7 partners could agree to in that context,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
Trump had underlined the differences in views towards Russia within the group on Monday, when he said it had been a mistake to expel Moscow from what was formerly the G8 in response to its invasion and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014.
Canada pledges military support
Zelenskyy had arrived at the summit calling for support from Ukraine’s allies, and declaring he was ready for peace negotiations.
“We are ready for the peace negotiations, unconditional ceasefire,” he said. “But for this, we need pressure.”
He left with a pledge from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to provide 2 billion Canadian dollars ($1.47bn) in new military assistance for Kyiv, as well as to impose new financial sanctions on Russia.
Trump did agree to a group statement before his departure, calling for a resolution of the Israel-Iran conflict. The statement, issued on Monday, backed Israel, calling Iran the principal source of regional instability and terror, and asserting that Israel has the right to defend itself.
The statement called for a “de-escalation of hostilities”, despite some bellicose social media posts from Trump hinting at greater US military involvement in the conflict.
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