COPENHAGEN — The G7 is seeking to move from “incremental” to “decisive” actions to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said.
In an interview with POLITICO, Champagne said the G7 is “no longer in the incremental approach, but … decisive in order to put an end to the war.” The group of industrialized countries is “aligned on ambition and aligned on urgency,” he added.
Champagne is chairing G7 talks between finance ministers, including on controversial plans to use Russian central bank assets frozen abroad to help fund Ukraine’s war effort.
The G7 is under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to take greater action on Moscow to force Russian President Vladimir Putin into Ukraine peace talks.
The U.S. sent a paper to other G7 countries earlier this month calling for 100 percent tariffs on China and India, stricter sanctions on Russian oil and gas, and new moves to use the Russian frozen assets to fund Ukraine.
The EU and the U.K. have since put forward proposals to use Russian cash frozen in their territories to fund loans to Ukraine. And Brussels has come forward with a new sanctions package.
The loans plan is controversial, raising questions over whether it is compatible with international law. Champagne would not give details of the G7 discussions, but he said the group is trying to be “coordinated” in its actions.
“There are different initiatives, but … there is a desire to coordinate amongst ourselves and adopt a similar set of policies in action,” he said.
Asked whether Canada could propose its own reparations loan plan, Champagne said “we’re very aligned.”
Not joining the EU
Champagne was in Copenhagen for talks with EU finance ministers, including sideline conversations around joint defense procurement and the frozen assets plan.
He was keen to play up ties between the territories. “We’re very close,” he said, adding that Canada is “probably the country outside of Europe which has the closest link with the European Union,” and that Europe “has a desire to do more with Canada.”
But Champagne ruled out the prospect of Canada joining the EU, saying: “We’re not there.”
Champagne had even warmer words for the U.K., describing the two countries as “kind of best friends,” and U.K. finance chief Rachel Reeves as a “good friend.”
“We share a lot, we talk a lot, we text a lot because we’re very close,” he said.
Defense links
Canada received the green light from Brussels this week to start negotiations on accessing the EU’s €150 billion loans-for-arms program, known as SAFE. The U.K. is also starting negotiations on joining the program.
Asked whether Canada would want to be included in the first joint procurement round, which would set a tight deadline for agreeing on rules around its participation with the EU, Champagne said: “I would think so … I think we want to be in the first wave, there’s no doubt.”
“The defense procurement imperative is front and center,” he said, highlighting Canada’s critical minerals and icebreakers as products it could contribute to the procurement scheme.
Trade ties
Asked whether Canada is disappointed in the U.K. and the EU for capitulating to the U.S. by signing suboptimal trade deals to avoid punishing tariffs, Champagne said “everyone has to look at their own strategic interest.”
“When I look at other countries, each of us started from a different base,” he said. “When you look at the different deals that have been struck … I think each of us found a way forward to restore a bit of certainty.”
Although there “will still be volatility and uncertainty,” global trade is in “a more stable place now,” Champagne said.
The EU is pushing for closer ties to the Pacific-centric trade group the CPTPP, which includes like-minded countries such as Canada, Japan, Australia and Mexico and is emerging as an alternative for rules-based trade away from the paralyzed World Trade Organization.
Champagne said he wants to “strengthen and expand” the CPTPP trading bloc, which he described as “a nice alternative” and “foundational for having a rule-based trading system in that part of the world.”
“I see a lot of benefit, particularly as it seems more likely than ever that there won’t be many more … multilateral trading agreements of the same scope and scale,” Champagne said.
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