Comment Trump a saboté le sommet du G7 au Canada – un regard depuis l’Ukraine.
How Trump has ruined a G7 summit in Canada: a view from Ukraine. The death toll from a Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv on Tuesday rose to 28. The G7 leaders issue no joint statement on Ukraine.
How Trump has ruined G7 summit in Canada: a view from Ukraine
Ukrainian news site European Pravda published an editorial Wednesday penned by its editor and co-founder Serhiy Sydorenko laying out a view of the G7 summit that had just concluded in Canada. The following is an abridged version of the article that we translated into English.
While formally the leader of a G7 nation, [U.S. President Donald] Trump is divergent from the group. Neither concessions, nor public flattery of him helped engage the U.S. leader into joint work and values.
The failure of the summit in Canada is not the only consequence of it. What’s more important is that G7’s transformation into the G6+1 holds the group back from making critical decisions even if the break is not official.
The summit became a disappointment for Ukraine, experts argue. A 40-minute Trump-Zelenskyi meeting was planned for Tuesday. Trump was also expected to attend a G7-Ukraine meeting that same day. Both events did not happen after the U.S. President departed early.
Trump made a number of false statements and factual mistakes.
Speaking to reporters during an improvised news conference ahead of his meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump suggested that removing Russia from the then G8 in 2014 is what led to Russia’s war against Ukraine. He also falsely claimed that the group had eight members since its inception. Russia joined the club as its eighth member in 1998, more than 20 years later.
Speaking of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Trump claimed: “He was thrown out — by Trudeau, who convinced one or two people, along with Obama. He was thrown out.” He repeated the statement twice, also saying that there would be no war if Russia were in G8.
Russia was ousted from the alliance over its 2014 invasion of Crimea and Justin Trudeau did not become Canada’s prime minister until November 2015.
The G7 found itself in a new reality. The rest of the Western leaders were not ready to move on without the U.S. In Kananaskis, the G7 did not lower the price cap on Russian oil. It is a rather symbolic step to tighten the sanctions with its efficiency being doubted by many. Still the EU is not prepared to take that step if the decision is not backed by all G7 members.
In discussions at the summit, Trump said he will not hit Russia with more sanctions, saying Europeans should do it first.
The summit in Canada did not endorse any formal resolution on Ukraine, exposing significant rifts between the U.S. and other G7 members. The summit did not release a joint communiqué that was thought to be an integral element of the gathering. Instead, there were seven short statements from the G7, part of which primarily served U.S. interests, including the ones on Iran, tackling the threat of forest wildfires, migrant smuggling, critical materials, transnational repression, capitalizing on AI, quantum computing and the digital economy.
Neither of the statements mentions Ukraine or Russia. Last year’s declaration mentioned Ukraine more than 50 times.
Misalignment is visible not just when it comes to Russia’s war against Ukraine, the divisions between the U.S. and the rest of the G7 members are deep and comprehensive.
Neither of the statements mentions climate, while last year climate change was one of the top problems discussed at the summit. This year, it only appears in the phrase “investment climate”. Equality is not mentioned either (a topic of no interest to Trump).
The decisions endorsed at the G7 summit had no room for Western values. It exposes a fundamental rift within the G7. Until now it used to be a group of nations that agreed on foundational tenets. It is now a union between six like-minded states and the U.S. with divergent values and interests.
The G7 has grown into a talking shop where the leaders of the world’s most powerful economies can meet for bilateral talks at the summits. In Kananaskis, Trump announced a trade deal with the UK and underscored progress in talks with Canada.
Yet the value the G7 used to have has gone. It can no longer be the Western voice. The group does not have consensus on issues that await decisions.
This, and not Trump’s exit, is the main outcome from the G7’s failed summit in Canada.
Death toll from Russian missile, drone strike on Kyiv rises to 28
The death toll from a Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv on Tuesday rose to 28, Ukraine’s Interior Minister, Ihor Klymenko said in a post to Telegram on Wednesday evening. More than 140 others were wounded. Rescue workers have completed their search of the wreckage for further victims and continue to clear the debris.
Bodies of 23 people were pulled from under the rubble in the city’s Solomyanskyi district where a Russian missile hit a nine-story apartment building, flattening a whole section of it. The search-and-rescue operation lasted 39 hours, Klymenko said.
Russia launched on Tuesday a major missile and drone attack against Ukraine, targeting the regions of Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Kropyvnytskyi, Mykolayiv, Kyiv and the city of Odesa.
G7 leaders issue no joint statement on Ukraine
The Group of Seven (G7) leaders gathered for a summit in Canada signed seven joint statements, addressing issues like AI, migrant smuggling, critical minerals, wildfires, transnational repression and quantum technology. Ukraine was not featured in any of these statements.
Canada put an expression of support for Ukraine in the chair’s statement.
Asked by reporters why the statement on Ukraine was not signed by the seven leaders, Canadian Prime Minister and G7 host, Mark Carney, said: “This was discussed by all seven leaders, these exact words, and they’re in my chair summary. We had a declaration given the exceptional and fast-moving situation in Iran. We concentrated on that and it’s a specific one, I held this for my chair summary.”
Carney announced billions in support for Ukraine and tougher sanctions against Russia. He said a new $2 billion CAD (approx. $1.5 billion USD) package would fund helicopters, drones and ammunition. Canada is also lending the country $2.3-billion (approx. USD $1.7 billion USD) to help rebuild its infrastructure and public systems. The loan will be disbursed through the G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loans mechanism.
Prime minister said Canada would have been prepared to go further in its official language on Ukraine than what ended up on paper. “There would be things some of us, Canada included, would say above and beyond what was said in the chair summary,” he said.
Carney said he did release a chair statement which “expressed support for President [Donald] Trump’s efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine”. “We are resolute in pursuing all options to maximize pressure on Russia, including financial sanctions,” he added.
The G7 leaders recognize “that Ukraine has committed to an unconditional ceasefire, and they agreed that Russia must do the same,” Carney said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi arrived in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada on Tuesday. He was supposed to have bilateral meetings with the leaders of Canada, France, the UK, Germany, Italy, Japan, Brazil and India, as well as with the leadership of the EU and NATO.