KANANASKIS, Alberta — Six of the Group of Seven leaders are trying on the final day of their summit Tuesday to show the 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 U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Japan will be joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO chief Mark Rutte to discuss Russia’s relentless war on its neighbor.
World leaders had gathered in Canada 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 a day early from the summit in the Canadian Rocky Mountain resort of Kananaskis, leaving late Monday and saying: “I have to be back, very important.” As conflict between Israel and Iran intensified, he declared that Tehran should be evacuated “immediately” — while also expressing optimism about a deal to stop the violence.
Before leaving, 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.
At the summit, Trump warned that Tehran must curb its nuclear program before it’s “too late.” He said Iranian leaders would “like to talk” but they had already had 60 days to reach an agreement on their nuclear ambitions and failed to do so before the Israeli aerial assault began. “They have to make a deal,” he said.
Asked what it would take for the U.S. to get involved in the conflict militarily, Trump said Monday morning, “I don’t want to talk about that.“
On the overnight flight back to Washington, Trump did not seem bothered by 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 G7,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One before landing early Tuesday morning. “We had a good G7.”
The sudden departure only heightened the drama of a world that seems on the verge of several firestorms. Trump has already imposed severe tariffs on multiple nations that risk a global economic slowdown. There has been little progress on settling the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Trump’s stance on Ukraine puts him fundamentally at odds with the other G7 leaders, who back Ukraine and are clear that Russia is the aggressor in the war.
The U.S. president on Monday suggested there would have been no war if G7 members hadn’t expelled Putin from the organization in 2014 for annexing Crimea.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday said the G7 looks “very pale and quite useless” compared to “for example, such formats as the G20.”
With talks on ending the war in Ukraine at an impasse, Starmer said Britain and other G7 members were slapping new tariffs on Russia in a bid to get it to the ceasefire negotiating table. Zelensky is due to attend the summit Tuesday at Carney’s invitation, along with other leaders, including Rutte and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Trump declined to join in the sanctions on Russia, 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.
Trump had been scheduled before his departure to meet with Zelensky and with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
On the Middle East, Merz told reporters that Germany was planning to draw up a final communique proposal on the Israel-Iran conflict that will stress 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 G7 allies. The U.S. president 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.
He 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.”
Gillies and Lawless write for the Associated Press. AP writers Will Weissert in Banff, Alberta, Josh Boak in Calgary, Alberta and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.
US President Donald Trump left the G7 summit in Canada early, warning people in Tehran they should evacuate immediately. His departure fuelled speculation about US involvement in the Israel-Iran war. Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle unpacks what may lie ahead.
June 16 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday night cut short his participation at the G7 summit to leave Alberta, Canada, and returned to Washington, D.C., to focus on the conflict between Israel and Iran.
French President Emmanual Macron announced Trump had made a cease-fire offer between the two countries.
“There is an offer that has been made, especially to have a cease-fire and to initiate broader discussions,” Macron told reporters at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Canada on Monday.
“If the United States of America can achieve a cease-fire, it is a very good thing and France will support it and we wish for it,” Macron said, using a translator.
“It is absolutely essential that all strikes from both sides against energy, administrative and cultural infrastructures, and even more so against the civilian population, cease,” Macron added. “Nothing justifies this.”
The conflict became the top issue among the G7 leaders during the three-day summit after Iran and Israel began exchanging airstrikes Thursday night. Trade issues, which became a major issue following tariffs imposed by Trump, also are occupying their time.
Trump arrived in Canada on Monday and flew back to Washington, D.C., after a dinner with heads of state. Trump was previously scheduled to depart Canada on Tuesday after a news conference.
“Much was accomplished, but because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt
During the dinner, he said to Canada’s host, Prime Minister Mark Carney: “I have to be back early for obvious reasons. They understand. This is big stuff.”
Trump met earlier with Carney, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
But before he left, Trump signed off on a joint statement about the Israel-Iran situation because language was added to seek a diplomatic resolution to the situation and uphold international law, CNN reported.
Trump hadn’t planned to sign the declaration because he had already made his stance clear.
“We urge that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza,” the statement read.
“In this context, we affirm that Israel has a right to defend itself. We reiterate our support for the security of Israel. We also affirm the importance of the protection of civilians. Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror. We have been consistently clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”
Carney, Starmer, Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer were seeking consensus among the leaders about the Middle East situation.
The other leaders are Japanese President Kishida Fumio and Italy’s President Giorgia Meloni. The European Union represents 27 members, including France, Germany and Italy.
No other nations have helped Israel fire missiles at Iran, including the United States. But the United States is concerned about protecting its airbases and embassies in the region.
The United States only possesses the bomb required to strike Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear site, Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. told Merit TV on Monday.
Trump said he believes Iran wishes to de-escalate the situation. They had been in talks for a nuclear deal, but Sunday’s negotiations in Oman were canceled because of the airstrikes.
Later Monday, Trump posted on Truth Social about stalled nuclear talks: “Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
Trump also talked about the situation during a public meeting with Canada’s prime minister.
“They’d like to talk, but they should have done that before,” Trump said. “I had 60 days, and they had 60 days, and on the 61st day, I said, ‘We don’t have a deal.’ They have to make a deal, and it’s painful for both parties, but I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it’s too late.”
Carney cut off comments from Trump when he started to speak about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s plans to expand efforts to detain and deport illegal immigrants in America’s largest cities run by Democratic mayors in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.
“If you don’t mind,” Carney said, “I’m going to exercise my role if you will as G7 chair, since we have a few more minutes with the president and his team, and then we actually have to start the meeting to address some of the big issues. So thank you.”
Trump was making his first appearance at the summit since attending a meeting in the south of France in 2019. The previous year’s gathering in Canada ended with him withdrawing support for the final communique.
Trade talk
Trump formalized tariff cuts on British goods, and said he anticipates reaching new trade deals in Canada.
“We just signed it, and it’s done,” Trump told reporters. “It’s a fair deal for both.”
Trump lowered tariffs on the British aerospace sector to zero at the end of the month. The deal also cuts tariffs on British auto imports to 10% on the first 100,000 vehicles, according to the White House. Previously, vehicles imported from Great Britain faced a 27.5% duty.
The agreement does not lower steel tariffs to none from 25% as the leaders agreed in May. Trump has imposed a 50% steel and aluminum in other countries that went into effect earlier this month.
Canada is among the countries hardest hit, with a 25% tariff on autos imported into the United and 50% on steel and aluminum. Canada also faces tariffs, along with Mexico on imports of goods not exempted by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
The EU, in particular, wants to get a deal done before the July 9 expiration of a 10% tariff implemented by Trump to allow time for negotiations.
Before going to the summit, Trump had said he expected to sign new trade agreements with other nations.
Russia
The nation hasn’t been invited to the summit in 10 years.
Like in the past, Trump called it wrong for Russia to have been removed from the G8 in 2014 for annexing Crimea.
“The G7 used to be the G8,” Trump said.” And I would say that that was a mistake, because I think you wouldn’t have a war right now if you had Russia in.”
“It was a mistake in that you spend so much time talking about Russia. And he’s no longer at the table, so it makes life more complicated.”
Trump also said he won’t impose more sanctions on Russia with more sanctions at the G7 summit, saying European nations should hit the target with more sanctions.
“Let’s see them do it first,” he told reporters in a joint news appearance with Starmer. “When I sanction a country, that costs the U.S. a lot of money — a tremendous amount of money.”
The president held a roughly 60-minute call with Putin on Saturday in which much of the focus was on the Israel-Iran fighting, and less on Russia’s war with Ukraine. Trump was scheduled to have a one-on-one meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the summit.
Donald Trump’s return to the office of presidency of the United States has restored to prominence issues of NATO’s unity and general strategic purpose. Backtracking from the emphasis of previous administrations on allied unity and common defense, Trump once more put in the spotlight issues of fiscal responsibility, pushing NATO allies to make good on economic commitments or risk reduced American involvement. This transactional orientation has renewed tensions at home in the alliance and challenged the very basic precept of collective defense. Preceding the forthcoming Hague Summit (24–26 June 2025), member states will prepare not only to deal with this American approach but also to encounter a rapidly deteriorating security situation produced by the relentless behavior of Russia in Ukraine.
Right from the first term to his present time in the office, President Trump has continually blamed NATO allies for very low defense investment, making them too dependent on the USA for protection. His insistence on all members reaching or going beyond the 2% GDP benchmark for military spending, as laid down in the 2014 Wales Summit declaration, has meanwhile remained the core of his NATO agenda. The public castigations at the 2018 Brussels Summit were particularly unsettling for transatlantic relationships, the major impact being felt mainly in Germany and Canada, where they failed to meet the target.
The Trump administration has chosen to deal with NATO as if it were a business rather than a multi-party security organization, with the main criterion for appraisal being how cheap the solution is. The new U.S. National Security Strategy unveiled in 2017 overlaps with the idea that the U.S. has allies that, first and foremost, are instrumental for U.S. national interest and not the most important guardians of a common security. The comparison has made European states start to weigh up their potential strategic recovery and long-term flexibility. Member states from the eastern flank of Europe, namely the Baltic countries, Romania, and Poland, are facing both a political and strategic puzzle as a result of the U.S. that is not firm in its commitment. These states are still very much dependent on the faith in U.S. deterrence capability. If there were no clear assurances, their defense strategies would be changed to more independent ones, which would mean the very transfer of the burden that Trump is asking for, but in forms that are not part of NATO.
The Hague Summit is being organized at a time when current geopolitics have been through a phase of a lot of uncertainty. Matters in Ukraine, such as the war entering year number four and NATO interpersonal debates on the subject of fiscal fairness and long-term burden sharing, are the issues that the summit is likely to deal with the most. The most expected themes for discussion include the alliance’s military support to Ukraine, the capabilities of advancing cyber and hybrid defense, the adjustment to new global power competition, and the restoration of unity within the alliance.
Even though officials from the Trump administration have shown their solidarity with Ukraine by stating that they will continuously provide material support, their approach remains centered on visible contributions and the return on the investment. The issue of the discussions at The Hague will most probably be finding a way to change and make military aid more solid and the beginning of the long-term integration of Ukraine into the Western defense frameworks, as well as the reinforcement of the deterrent posture along NATO’s eastern flank. This attitude has already started to change the internal dynamics of NATO decision-making. Member states, in such a situation, are trying out their options, and some are looking for stronger EU defense guarantees or bilateral partnerships, and others are going to the extreme of gaining the favor of Washington by increasing their expenditures or acquiring more defense from U.S. contractors. The pressure may yield short-term gains in spending but could prove corrosive in the long term by reducing trust and weakening the cohesion necessary for coordinated deterrence strategies.
Within NATO, President Trump has repeated calls for greater defense spending on the part of member nations, threatening that America might withdraw from the alliance if its allies do not fulfill financial commitments. Recently, he made a statement that if members “don’t pay their bills,” then he would “absolutely” withdraw from NATO. This stance has caused European nations to rapidly review their defense budgets and led to an increasing push for strategic autonomy among EU member states. Such situations could lead to disagreements concerning summit communiqués, the wording of final declarations, or even if to confirm those basic articles as Article 5 once more. If it is difficult for consensus to be reached, the summit can be like a festival of differences, which are able to be taken advantage of by the adversaries. Besides that, disagreement on the approach to global threats, for instance, on China or occurrences in the Indo-Pacific region, may block NATO’s strategic evolution and prevent its participation in those parts of the world where conflicts of interest will arise.
The summit also might be a major European initiative stage where visible leadership of the continent is given to some of the European Union members. States such as the Netherlands and Germany expect to demand stronger political commitments, while Central and Eastern European nations will require better security guarantees and more decisive action in response to Russian military escalation.
President Trump’s NATO policy resurrects a contentious but prevailing line of questioning within the alliance: who pays, and who benefits? While this emphasis on burden sharing has catalyzed long-needed changes in national defense spending, it also risks undermining the political basis on which NATO exists. The Hague Summit will need to reconcile these tensions and set the stage for a more robust and unified transatlantic security posture. Looking forward, NATO has to reinforce both mechanisms of fiscal transparency and collective strategic direction. NATO has to reconcile equitable contributions with an appreciation that security is not only a question of budgets. Political solidarity, institutional trust, and credible leadership are as important to deterrence as hardware. Above all, the summit must offer a clear vision for the next phase of the war in Ukraine. With the war grinding on and Russian forces intensifying operations, NATO cannot afford uncertainty. A concise, collective blueprint for long-term support, including logistics, infrastructure, and defense integration for Ukraine, will be critical to safeguarding European security.
Finally, the member states should use The Hague Summit as an opportunity to reaffirm NATO’s foundational role: not just as a defense alliance but also as a political community committed to peace, democracy, and the rule of law. Only by embracing both the material and moral dimensions of security can NATO adapt to meet the challenges of the next decade.
At the start of the G7 Summit, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said the world is facing a historic turning point. He warned that it is becoming more dangerous and divided, and urged world leaders to strengthen cooperation.
KANANASKIS, Canada — The Group of 7 summit began in Canada on Monday with world leaders scrambling to contain the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program, with President Trump reiterating his call for the two nations to start negotiating.
“They should talk, and they should talk immediately,” he told reporters.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said all G-7 leaders agree they “have to find a way to de-escalate the situation” in the Middle East because the Israel-Iran conflict risks inflaming the “tinderbox” of Gaza and hurting the global economy.
Starmer said he’d spoken to Trump about the issue, adding “the risk of the conflict escalating is obvious, I think, and the implications, not just for the region but globally, are really immense, so the focus has to be on de-escalation.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters Monday ahead of the summit beginning in the Canadian Rocky Mountains that Germany is planning to draw up a final communique proposal on the Israel-Iran conflict that will stress that “Iran must under no circumstances be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons-capable material.”
But as Trump met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, he also stressed it was a mistake to remove Russia from the organization in 2014 and doing so had destabilized the world. He also suggested it would be a good idea to add China to the G-7.
The U.S. president also seemed to put a greater priority on his planned emphasis on addressing his grievances with other nations’ trade policies.
“Our primary focus will be trade,” Trump said of his talks with Carney.
This year’s G-7 summit is full of combustible tensions, and it’s unclear how the gathered world leaders can work together to resolve them. Trump already has hit several dozen nations with severe tariffs that risk a global economic slowdown. There is little progress on settling the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and now a new conflict between Israel and Iran has arisen.
Add to all of that the problems of climate change, immigration, drug trafficking, new technologies such as artificial intelligence and China’s continued manufacturing superiority and chokehold on key supply chains.
“We’re gathering at one of those turning points in history,” Carney said. “The world’s more divided and dangerous.”
But as the news media were escorted from the opening session, Carney could be heard as he turned to Trump and referenced how his remarks about the Middle East, Russia and China had already drawn attention to the summit.
“Mr. President, I think you’ve answered a lot of questions already,” Carney said.
Trump wants to focus on trade, though he may have to balance those issues with the broader need by the G-7 countries — which also include France, Italy and Japan — to project a united front to calm down a world increasingly engulfed in chaos.
Asked if he planned to announce any trade agreements at the G-7 as he left the White House on Sunday, Trump said: “We have our trade deals. All we have to do is send a letter, ‘This is what you’re going to have to pay.’ But I think we’ll have a few, few new trade deals.”
Also at stake might be the survival of the G-7 itself when the Trump administration has sent mixed signals about whether the president will attend the November Group of 20 summit in South Africa.
The German, U.K., Japanese and Italian governments have each signaled a belief that a friendly relationship with Trump this year can help to keep any public drama at a minimum, after the U.S. president in 2018 opposed a joint communique when the G-7 summit was last held in Canada.
Going into the summit, there was no plan for a joint statement this year, a sign that the Trump administration sees no need to build a shared consensus with fellow democracies if it views such a statement as contrary to its goals of new tariffs, more fossil fuel production and a Europe that is less dependent on the U.S. military.
“The Trump administration almost certainly believes that no deal is better than a bad deal,” said Caitlin Welsh, a director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank who was part of Trump’s team for the G-7 in Trump’s first term.
The White House has stayed decidedly mum about its goals for the G-7, which originated as a 1973 finance ministers’ meeting to address the oil crisis and evolved into a yearly summit meant to foster personal relationships among world leaders and address global problems.
The G-7 briefly expanded to the G-8 with Russia as a member, only for Russia to be expelled in 2014 after annexing Crimea and taking a foothold in Ukraine that preceded its aggressive 2022 invasion of that nation.
Trump will have a series of bilateral meetings during the summit with other world leaders while in Canada. Beyond Carney, he’s also expected to have bilateral meetings or pull-aside conversations with Starmer, Merz, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ahead of his meeting with Trump, Zelensky said one of the topics for discussion will be a “defense package” that Ukraine is ready to purchase from the U.S. as part of the ongoing war with Russia.
The U.S. president has imposed 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos, all of which have disproportionately hit Japan. 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.
The United Kingdom reached a trade framework with the U.S. that included quotas to protect against some tariffs, but the 10% baseline would remain as the Trump administration is banking on tariff revenues to help cover the cost of its income tax cuts.
Canada and Mexico face separate tariffs of as much as 25% that Trump put into place under the auspices of stopping fentanyl smuggling, through some products are still protected under the 2020 U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement signed during Trump’s first term.
Merz said of trade talks that “there will be no solution at this summit, but we could perhaps come closer to a solution in small steps.”
The Trump administration has insisted that its broad tariffs will produce trade agreements that box out China, though it’s unclear how antagonizing trade partners would make them want to strengthen their reliance on the U.S. Carney has been outspoken in saying Canada can no longer look to the U.S. as an enduring friend.
That might leave Trump with the awkward task of wanting to keep his tariffs in place while also trying to convince other countries that they’re better off siding with the U.S. than China.
Boak, Gillies and Lawless write for the Associated Press. Boak reported from Calgary, Canada. AP writer Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report.
Chinese President Xi Jinping reached Kazakhstan on Monday to attend the second China–Central Asia Summit, a high-stakes diplomatic gathering aimed at deepening Beijing’s economic and strategic ties with the region.
The summit, which will be held on Tuesday in the Kazakh capital Astana, comes at a time when China is intensifying its outreach to Central Asian countries amid shifting global power alignments — and mounting tensions in neighbouring Iran, which is roiled in an escalating conflict with Israel.
The summit will bring together the heads of state from all five Central Asian nations — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — along with Xi.
The Astana summit also carries symbolic weight: it is the first time that the five Central Asian nations are holding a summit in the region with the leader of another country.
So, what is the importance of the China-Central Asia Summit? And is China battling both the United States and Russia for influence in the region?
What’s on Xi’s agenda in Astana?
On Monday, Xi was greeted by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and other senior officials at the airport in Astana. The Astana summit follows the inaugural May 2023 China–Central Asia Summit, which was held in Xi’an, the capital city of China’s Shaanxi province.
Xi is expected to be in Astana from June 16 to 18 and is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Kazakhstan’s leaders on Monday before the summit on June 17.
At the summit, he is expected to deliver a keynote speech and “exchange views on the achievements of the China-Central Asia mechanism, mutually beneficial cooperation under the framework, and international and regional hotspot issues,” said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
The office of Kazakhstan’s president noted that both countries are “set to further strengthen bilateral ties” and Xi will also chair “high-level talks with President [Tokayev] focused on deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership”.
Tokayev, who has been in office since 2019, is a fluent Mandarin speaker and previously served as a diplomat in China.
Zhao Long, a senior research fellow at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS), told Al Jazeera that Central Asian countries see their partnership with China as a deep, multifaceted cooperation grounded in shared strategic and pragmatic interests.
“The alignment with China helps Central Asian states enhance their regional stability, pursue economic modernisation, and diversify their diplomatic portfolios,” said Zhao. Where Central Asia has abundant energy resources, he said, China offers vast markets, advanced technology, and infrastructure expertise.
Last Friday, Lin Jian, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told a news briefing that establishing “the China-Central Asia mechanism was a unanimous decision among China and the five Central Asian countries, which dovetails with the region’s common desire to maintain stability and pursue high-quality development”.
Since China first formalised and chaired the China-Central Asia Summit in May 2023, Lin said, “China’s relations with Central Asian countries have entered a new era … injecting fresh impetus into regional development and delivering tangibly for the peoples of all six countries.”
“We believe through this summit, China and five Central Asian countries will further consolidate the foundation of mutual trust,” Lin added.
“During the summit, President Xi will also meet with these leaders and lay out the top-level plan for China’s relations with [the] five Central Asian countries,” said the spokesperson.
SIIS’s Zhao said Xi’s attendance at the second summit sends a clear message: “China places high strategic importance on Central Asia.”
Former US President Joe Biden (centre) hosts a C5+1 summit meeting with the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on the sidelines of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, New York, the US, September 19, 2023 [File: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]
What’s ‘C5+1’ – and is China racing the US for influence?
Experts are dubbing the China-Central Asia Summit as a C5+1 framework, because of the five regional nations involved.
The United States first initiated the concept of such a summit with all five Central Asian nations in 2015, under then-US President Barack Obama. But at the time, the conclave was held at the level of foreign ministers. Then-US Secretary of State John Kerry led the first meeting in September 2015 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
In January 2022, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a virtual summit with the five Central Asian state heads, and then in June 2025, he invited them for a follow-up conclave in India.
Meanwhile, in 2023, Xi hosted the leaders in Xi’an. Four months later, then-US President Joe Biden hosted the C5 state heads on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York. It was the first time a US president met with Central Asian heads of state under this framework.
But current US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies could upset that outreach from Washington. Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have all been tariffed at 10 percent.
Trump initially imposed an even higher 27 percent tariff on imports from Kazakhstan, the region’s largest economy, though as with all other countries, the US president has paused these rates, limiting tariffs to a flat 10 percent for now.
China has cited these tariff rates to project itself as a more reliable partner to Central Asia than the US. At the meeting with the foreign ministers of the region in April, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticised unilateralism, trade protectionism, and “the trend of anti-globalisation [that] has severely impacted the free trade system”.
The US, Wang said, was “undermining the rule-based multilateral trading system, and destabilising the global economy”.
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and China’s President Xi Jinping walk past honour guards during a welcoming ceremony before talks in Astana, Kazakhstan on July 3, 2024 [File: Press Service of the President of Kazakhstan/via Reuters]
Why does Central Asia matter to China?
The region, rich in uranium, oil, and rare earth metals, has become increasingly important to China as a key corridor for trade with Europe. Subsequently, China has increased its engagement with Central Asian countries.
Xi, who has curtailed his foreign visits since the COVID-19 pandemic, is visiting Kazakhstan for the third time since 2020. He visited in 2022, and then again in 2024.
Central Asia is also a critical part of Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — a network of highways, railroads and ports connecting Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America — as a gateway to Europe.
Experts expect the BRI to figure prominently at the summit in Astana on Tuesday, with additional emphasis on collaboration in energy and sustainable development.
A planned $8bn railway connecting China’s Xinjiang region to Uzbekistan through Kyrgyzstan is likely to be on the agenda, the SIIS’s Zhao said. Construction on the project is scheduled to begin in July. Expected to be completed by 2030, the railway route will provide China with more direct access to Central Asia and reduce the three countries’ reliance on Russia’s transport infrastructure.
Additionally, Zhao said, the summit may feature agreements on reducing tariffs, streamlining customs procedures, and lowering non-tariff barriers to boost bilateral trade volumes.
From left to right, Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, China’s President Xi Jinping, Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov, and Turkmenistan’s President Serdar Berdymukhamedov pose for a group photo session during the first China-Central Asia Summit in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, China, May 19, 2023 [File: Florence Lo/Reuters]
How much does Central Asia depend on China?
A lot.
China is today the top trading partner of each of the five Central Asian republics.
Kazakhstan imported goods worth $18.7bn from China and exported goods worth $15bn in 2023 — making up 30 percent of its total imports and 16 percent of exports.
Tajikistan imported goods worth $3.68bn from China and exported goods worth $250m in 2023 — making up 56 percent of its total imports and 16 percent of exports.
Kyrgyzstan imported goods worth $3.68bn and exported goods worth $887m in 2023 from China — constituting 29 percent of its total imports and 26 percent of exports.
Uzbekistan imported goods worth $12.7bn and exported goods worth $1.82bn in 2023 from the world’s second-largest economy — representing 32 percent of its total imports and 6 percent of exports.
Turkmenistan imported goods worth $957m and exported goods worth $9.63bn in 2023 from China — or 20 percent of its total imports and 62 percent of exports.
China is also ramping up its investments in the region. It has committed to an estimated $26bn in investments in Kazakhstan, for instance.
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, November 28, 2024 [File: Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via Reuters]
Is China replacing Russia in Central Asia?
It’s complicated.
Formerly parts of the Soviet Union, the five Central Asian republics have long belonged in Russia’s strategic sphere of influence. Millions of people from the five republics live and work in Russia, and since 2023, Moscow has become a supplier of natural gas to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which have faced energy shortages — even though Central Asia was historically a supplier of energy to Russia.
But though Russia remains a major economic force in the region, China has overtaken it as the largest trading partner of Central Asian republics over the past three years — a period that has coincided with Russia’s war on Ukraine. Some of that increased trade, in fact, is believed to be the outcome of China using Central Asia as a conduit for exports to Russia of goods that face Western sanctions.
Still, there are ways in which Russia remains the region’s preeminent outside ally. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan — three of the region’s five nations — are part of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) — along with Russia, Armenia and Belarus. Like NATO, this bloc offers collective security guarantees to members. In effect, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have the cover of Russia’s protection if they are attacked by another nation — something that China does not offer.
This week’s G7 summit in Canada will be dominated by war – only not one of those that the world leaders had expected.
High on the agenda had been Russia’s war against Ukraine and Donald Trump’s tariff war against America’s trading partners.
Instead the three-day gathering in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta will inevitably be focused on war in the Middle East.
Israel’s decision to attack Iran will force the Group of Seven western powers to spend less time on other issues and instead discuss ways of managing the conflict.
Like so many of their discussions, that will involve Britain, France, Germany and Italy – along with Canada and Japan – seeking to influence the United States.
For although Israel might have launched these strikes without explicit American support, the US president is the only leader with real leverage over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The G7 leaders, due to arrive in Canada on Sunday, know the global security and economic risks if this conflict escalates, dragging in other countries, sending oil prices soaring.
Yet they may struggle to achieve a common position. Some, such as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Emmanuel Macron of France, have called for restraint and de-escalation.
But others such as Japan’s Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, have condemned Israel’s attack as “intolerable” and “extremely regrettable”. For his part, Mr Trump praised Israel’s strikes as “excellent”.
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UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Ukraine in May
Hiding the divisions
All this is a long way from what Mark Carney, the new Canadian Prime Minister, had planned for the talks in the wilderness retreat of Kananaskis. He wanted a summit to mark the G7’s 50th birthday that avoided rows with Mr Trump.
Much of his agenda was non-controversial, about energy security, protecting mineral supply chains, accelerating the digital transition and tackling forest fires.
There was little mention of issues such as climate change, on which Mr Trump is a sceptic. Canadian officials even decided not to have a summit communique to avoid textual disputes dominating the gathering.
Instead, world leaders will agree a number of “short, action-oriented statements” that maintain consensus and ignore divisive issues.
Canadians well remember the last time they hosted a G7 gathering in 2018 when there was a row over – yes – Donald Trump’s trade tariffs. The president stormed out early and, on the plane home, withdrew his support for the summit communique after watching Justin Trudeau, the then Canadian Prime Minister, give a press conference Mr Trump described as “very dishonest and weak”.
This summit Mr Carney may arrange a visit to Kananaskis golf club to try to keep Mr Trump onside.
EPA
In Charlevoix in 2018, it was a discordant G7 hosted by Canada and Trump left early
An awkward family gathering
Beneath this caution lingers a fundamental question about whether these annual gatherings are still worth it, given Mr Trump’s clear disdain. He prefers bilateral dealmaking to multilateral consensus-building.
This is the president’s first such foray onto the world stage since his inauguration and his six partners will be looking anxiously to see whether he wants to pick a fight – or look statesmanlike – for voters back home.
Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: “The question now is not so much ‘is this an awkward family gathering?’ That’s almost a given. I think the question is: ‘is this still a family?'”
In one respect, the dramatis personae in Kananaskis helps. There are several new faces around the table – Sir Keir Starmer, Chancellor Merz of Germany, Mr Ishiba and Mr Carney himself. The more veteran G7 leaders – President Macron and Prime Minister Meloni of Italy – get on well with the US president.
Other leaders also attending the summit, from Mexico, India, Australia, South Africa, South Korea and Brazil, are not expected to pick a fight.
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Tourists in Banff, Alberta, near to where the G7 is being held
Tackling Trump over tariffs
The most obvious test of the G7’s existential tensions will be Mr Trump’s trade war.
This club of some of the world’s richest industrial nations was set up in the 1970s to discuss global economic crises. And yet now the G7 finds itself dealing with damaging tariffs imposed by one of its members.
The argument world leaders will make to Mr Trump is that if he wants them to help him counter longer-term threats, economic or otherwise, from China, then it makes little sense for him to punish his allies. They will want to make explicit that there is a trade-off between putting America First and taking on Beijing.
Josh Lipsky, senior director, Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center, said: “If the question is how we coordinate on China, how we coordinate on technology, how we coordinate on Russia and Ukraine – how can we have this kind of alliance between advanced-economy democracies if we’re also creating economic hardship on our countries by something that’s coming from another member?”
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Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meet in the Oval Office in February.
Pressing Russia over Ukraine
Key to that debate will be Ukraine. President Zelensky will join the discussions on Tuesday. His aim, along with other leaders, will be to assess the current state of President Trump’s thinking towards Russia.
Ukraine’s allies want to put more pressure on President Putin to come to the negotiating table. To do that, they want to hit his economy harder.
First, they want to reduce the price much of the world pays for Russian oil.
They already agreed in December 2022 to cap the price of Russian crude oil at $60 a barrel, making that a condition of access to western ports and shipping insurance and port. But this has been rendered less effective by falling energy prices.
The European Commission wants a cap at $45. Ukraine wants it even lower, at $30. What is not clear is where Mr Trump’s thinking is on this. Already some officials say allies may have to lower the cap without US support.
Second, Ukraine’s western allies also want a tough new package of economic sanctions.
The European Commission has already proposed a fresh round of penalties aimed at Moscow’s energy revenues, banks and military industry.
US senators, led by Lindsay Graham, are also pushing tough new sanctions that that would impose steep tariffs on countries that buy cheap Russian oil, most particularly China and India.
It used to be said the G7 was a kind of “steering committee” for the free world. This week may reveal whether the club’s driving days are over
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the US – will meet on Sunday in the remote town of Kananaskis, Alberta, nestled in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, for three days of intense discussions.
This will be the 51st G7 summit meeting. The first took place in 1975 in Rambouillet, France. Back then, it was known as the G6 meeting, as Canada did not become a member until the following year.
Russia joined the forum in 1998, making it the G8, but was effectively expelled in 2014, following its annexation of Crimea. Since then, the forum has been known as the G7.
Tensions at this year’s gathering, taking place June 15-17, are likely to be high for many reasons.
Intense discussions are expected about the unfolding crisis in the Middle East after Israel carried out massive strikes on military and nuclear sites in Iran on Friday. This year’s meeting also takes place against the backdrop of aggressive trade tariffs set – and then paused for all countries except China, which has now reached a deal with the US – by US President Donald Trump earlier this year.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney may also still be reeling from comments by Trump that Canada should become the 51st US state. In May, Carney stated that Canada was “not for sale … ever” during a meeting with Trump at the White House.
The G7 represents 44 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) but only 10 percent of the world’s population. Within the group, the US is by far the largest economy. Having campaigned for the presidency on an “America First” message, Trump has frequently expressed displeasure about how much it contributes to global affairs.
At the last G7 summit attended by Trump in 2018, his national security adviser, John Bolton, posted on social media: “Just another G7 where other countries expect America will always be their bank. The President made it clear today. No more.”
So, who is coming this year and what will they be talking about?
Who is attending the G7 meeting this year?
Canada is hosting this year’s G7 meeting – it’s the seventh time it has assumed the presidency of the group. Besides leaders of the G7 countries and the EU, which is also represented at the summit, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has invited several heads of state from non-G7 countries as guests.
These include Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who confirmed her attendance on Monday after saying in May that she was undecided, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was invited, but it is unclear whether he will attend.
The invitation for Modi has raised eyebrows in Canada. Relations between India and Canada have been strained since former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of assassinating a Sikh separatist leader in Canada in 2023. The World Sikh Organisation said Carney’s invitation was a “betrayal of Sikh Canadians”, and the Sikh Federation of Canada called it “a grave insult”.
But Carney, who is trying to diversify Canadian trade away from the US, defended his decision, saying it makes sense for the G7 to invite India, since it is the world’s fifth-largest economy and is at the heart of a number of trading supply chains.
“In addition, bilaterally, we have now agreed, importantly, to continued law enforcement dialogue, so there’s been some progress on that, that recognises issues of accountability. I extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi in that context,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa.
In March, Carney also invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to this week’s gathering.
Leaders of Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa and South Korea are also expected to attend.
[Al Jazeera]
Will they discuss US trade tariffs?
During his current tenure as president, Trump has imposed broad tariffs on every member of the G7, as well as on most other countries around the world, sparking a global trade war in the process. Trump says he wants to reverse large trade deficits between the US and other countries.
However, it is unlikely this issue will be formally addressed during G7 discussions as Carney will primarily be trying to prevent a fallout over trade between the member states, many of whom are still scrambling to secure trade deals with the US.
The UK reached the first trade agreement with the US in May, when it agreed to reduce tariffs on US goods from 5.1 percent to 1.8 percent and provide greater access for US goods. In return, the US dropped higher tariffs, leaving only its universal 10-percent tariff in place.
Both the EU and Japan are hoping to strike their own agreements before the July 9 end of Trump’s 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs.
Trump also had a rocky relationship with the G7 during his first term as US president and left the 2018 summit – also in Canada – in a huff. At the end of what was thought to be a successful gathering, Trump wrote on social media that he had directed his staff not to sign the final communique – the statement G7 countries issue in a show of unity at the end of the summit – and called then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “very dishonest and weak”.
Even though the communique is never usually formally “signed”, the incident pointed to Trump’s unpredictability, experts say.
John Kirton of the G7 Research Group, based at the University of Toronto, said Trump is less likely to cause a scene this year. He told Indian channel NDTV World that Carney is on better terms with Trump and noted that the US is due to host the G7 in 2027. “He doesn’t want to kill the G7 golden goose before he can produce the ‘biggest, best summit ever’ for the whole world stage two years from now,” Kirton said.
So, what will be on the agenda for this G7 meeting?
The G7 2025 summit website lists three core actions on the agenda for this year’s discussions: “Protecting our communities around the world”; “Building energy security and accelerating the digital transition”; and “Securing the partnerships of the future”.
If this does not dominate discussions entirely, other items on the agenda at this year’s G7 summit are likely to be global trade issues, the Russia-Ukraine war and China.
Israel-Iran crisis
Julia Kulik, director of strategic initiatives for the G7 Research Group at the University of Toronto’s Trinity College, said conversations on global peace that would have focused on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Israel’s war on Gaza will now likely pivot to Iran.
“There will be tough questions from other leaders around the table to Donald Trump about what went wrong with the negotiations and about what he’s going to do to get Israel to de-escalate before things get worse,” Kulik told Al Jazeera.
The G7 “was designed to be a crisis response group with the ability to act and adapt quickly to international challenges … so in some ways it’s good they’re meeting this weekend as they’ll have the ability to respond quickly”, she added.
Robert Rogowsky, professor of trade and economic diplomacy at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said there is no way G7 members can avoid the subject of the latest crisis in the Middle East. “That attack, counterattack, and the US declaration that it was not involved and its warning about staying away from American assets as targets is likely to be the first thing discussed, as it now creates the possibility of a real, all-out war in the Middle East. The major neighbouring parties will have to decide how to align themselves.” Rogowsky said.
Global trade
While Carney is hoping to cover uncontroversial themes, such as building friendlier global supply chains for materials like critical minerals, China may also be a focus of discussions.
Following a meeting of G7 finance ministers in Canada in May, the group issued a joint communique saying they would continue to monitor “nonmarket policies and practices” which contribute to imbalances in global trade. The statement did not mention China, but “nonmarket policies” often refer to export subsidies and currency policies that the Trump administration says provide an advantage in international trade. The statement was seen as a swipe at China’s trade practices, in particular its lending practices, which many see as adding debt for poorer countries.
Leaders of the G7 are also expected to discuss concerns about rising tensions between China and Taiwan in the East and South China Seas, as well as China’s expanding military presence there.
Russia-Ukraine war
A joint statement of G7 foreign ministers following an earlier meeting in Quebec in mid-March expressed strong support for Kyiv. It said finance ministers had “discussed imposing further costs on Russia” if Moscow did not agree to a ceasefire.
The UK and the EU announced a new round of sanctions against Russia in May, but Trump, who has been conducting discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the US would not follow suit.
Sanctions against Russia and achieving a ceasefire may, therefore, also be a focus of discussions this week.
Global development
This could be a thorny issue.
Global development, particularly in African countries, has long been a primary focus of G7 discussions. However, this year, the US has made clear that it wishes to de-prioritise economic and humanitarian assistance for other countries. It has largely shuttered the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and says it plans large cuts to funding for other health and development initiatives overseas, as well.
What meetings could take place on the sidelines of the G7 summit?
US-EU
Donald Trump is expected to hold meetings with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Japan’s prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba. Both leaders are eager to agree on a trade deal with Trump as soon as possible to avoid reciprocal tariffs, due to come back into place following a pause in early July.
US-Canada-Mexico
Trump, Carney and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum may also hold a separate meeting of North American leaders on trade and border security. In February, Trump postponed his planned 25-percent import tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods at the last minute. Canada’s then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sheinbaum both agreed to increase border security to prevent the trafficking of drugs and migrants into the US, averting a trade war. Trump says he has been particularly concerned about the flow of the drug fentanyl into the US from both Canada and Mexico.
US-South Africa
South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has told reporters he will have a second meeting with Trump during the G7 summit, following the two leaders’ meeting in Washington, DC, on May 21, when Trump accused South Africa of “genocide” against white farmers. Earlier in May, 59 white “refugees” were flown from South Africa to the US as part of a relocation plan for white South Africans devised by the Trump administration.
WASHINGTON — President Trump has long bet that he can scare allies into submission — a gamble that is increasingly being tested ahead of the Group of Seven summit beginning Monday in Canada.
He’s threatened stiff tariffs in the belief that other nations would crumple. He’s mused about taking over Canada and Greenland. He’s suggested he will not honor NATO’s obligations to defend partners under attack. And he’s used Oval Office meetings to try to intimidate the leaders of Ukraine and South Africa.
But many world leaders see fewer reasons to be cowed by Trump, even as they recognize the risks if he followed through on his threats. They believe he will ultimately back down — since many of his plans could inflict harm on the U.S. — or that he can simply be charmed and flattered into cooperating.
“Many leaders still seem intimidated by Trump, but increasingly they are catching on to his pattern of bullying,” said Jeremy Shapiro, research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “In places as diverse as Canada, Iran, China and the EU, we are seeing increasing signs that leaders now recognize that Trump is afraid of anything resembling a fair fight. And so they are increasingly willing to stand up to him.”
In the 22 instances in which Trump has publicly threatened military action since his first term, the U.S. only used force twice, according to a May analysis by Shapiro.
World leaders feel comfortable standing up to Trump
Ahead of the G-7 summit, there are already signs of subtle pushback against Trump from fellow leaders in the group. French President Emanuel Macron planned to visit Greenland over the weekend in a show of European solidarity. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said the U.S. is no longer the “predominant” force in the world after Trump’s tariffs created fissures in a decades-long partnership between the U.S. and its northern neighbor.
“We stood shoulder to shoulder with the Americans throughout the Cold War and in the decades that followed, as the United States played a predominant role on the world stage,” Carney said this past week in French. “Today, that predominance is a thing of the past.”
The new prime minister added that with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the U.S. became the global hegemon, a position of authority undermined by Trump’s transactional nature that puts little emphasis on defending democratic values or the rule of law.
“Now the United States is beginning to monetize its hegemony: charging for access to its markets and reducing its relative contributions to our collective security,” Carney said.
Israel’s attack on Iran has added a new wrinkle to the global picture as the summit leaders gather to tackle some of the world’s thorniest problems.
A senior Canadian official said it was decided early on that the G-7 won’t be issuing a joint communiqué as it has at past summits — an indication of how hard it can be to get Trump on the same page with other world leaders. The White House said individual leader statements will be issued on the issues being discussed.
Speaking last month at a conference in Singapore, Macron called France a “friend and an ally of the United States” but pushed back against Trump’s desire to dominate what other countries do. Macron said efforts to force other nations to choose between the U.S. and China would lead to the breakdown of the global order put in place after World War II.
“We want to cooperate, but we do not want to be instructed on a daily basis what is allowed, what is not allowed, and how our life will change because of the decision of a single person,” Macron said.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pushed back against Trump’s agenda of levying higher tariffs on imported goods, arguing it would hurt economic growth. The Japanese leader specifically called Trump ahead of the summit to confirm their plans to talk on the sidelines, which is a greater focus for Japan than the summit itself.
“I called him as I also wanted to congratulate his birthday, though one day earlier,” Ishiba said.
Trump cares about being tough, but G-7 is a chance to reset relations
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said the summit was an opportunity for Trump to “mend” relationships with other countries so China would be unable to exploit differences among the G-7.
She said other foreign leaders are “not intimidated” by Trump’s actions, which could be driving them away from tighter commitments with the U.S.
“The conversations that I’ve had with those leaders suggest that they think that the partnership with the United States has been really important, but they also understand that there are other opportunities,” Shaheen said.
The White House did not respond to emailed questions for this story.
Many leaders feel more confident that they can sidestep Trump’s threats
Having originally made his reputation in real estate and hospitality, Trump has taken kindly to certain foreign visitors, such as U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Starmer has sought to keep Trump in line with Europe in supporting Ukraine and NATO instead of brokering any truces that would favor Russia. He has echoed the president’s language about NATO members spending more on defense. But in his Oval Office visit, Starmer also pleased Trump by delivering an invite for a state visit from King Charles III.
The German government said it, too, wanted to send a public signal of unity, saying that while Trump’s recent meeting with Merz at the White House went harmoniously, the next test is how the relationship plays out in a team setting.
There will also be other world leaders outside of the G-7 nations attending the summit in mountainous Kananaskis, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom Trump dressed down in the Oval Office.
Italy’s Meloni has positioned herself as a “bridge” between the Trump administration and the rest of Europe. But Italy’s strong support of Ukraine and Trump’s threatened tariffs on European goods have put Meloni, the only European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration, in a difficult position.
Mark Sobel, U.S. chair of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, an independent think tank, said Trump’s “trade policies, backing for right wing European movements, seeming preference for dealing with authoritarians and many of his other actions are alienating our G-7 allies,” even if the U.S. president is correct that Europe needs to do more on defense.
But even as other G-7 leaders defuse any public disputes with Trump, the U.S. president’s vision for the world remains largely incompatible with they want.
“In short, behind the curtains, and notwithstanding whatever theater, the Kananaskis summit will highlight a more fragmented G-7 and an adrift global economy,” Sobel said.
Boak writes for the Associated Press. AP reporters Rob Gillies in Toronto, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Jill Lawless in London, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.
June 9 (UPI) — World leaders at a United Nations conference in France called for an end to ocean-plundering activity with a global agreement likely on the horizon.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the UN’s third ocean conference Monday in Nice with over 120 nations and more than 50 heads of state taking part in the five-day gathering.
“The ocean is the ultimate share resource,” Guterres said to global representatives at the port of Nice. “But we are failing it.”
He said oceans are absorbing 90% of excess heat fro greenhouse gas emissions and buckling under the strain of overfishing, rising temperatures, plastic pollution, acidification, dying coral reefs and collapsing marine life.
The conference co-hosted by France and Costa Rica was focused on ratifying the 2023 High Seas Treaty, which required 60 other countries to sign-on to before it becomes a binding international law.
Rising seas, accordion to Guterres, could soon “submerge deltas, destroy crops, and swallow coastlines — threatening many islands’ survival.”
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron revealed that the milestone was within reach.
“The sea is our first ally against global warming,” Macron said in his opening speech.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said if the world neglects the ocean and its treated “without respect” then it “will turn on us,” she said, adding there will be “ever more violent storms” that ravage the world’s coastlines.
Last month, the European Union ratified the treaty.
“The ocean is our greatest ally, whether you live here in Europe, or anywhere in the world,” said von der Leyen.
The treaty sets a global commitment to protect at least 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030, and provides countries with meaningful tools and ways to create protected ocean areas and conduct evaluations of such things as the damage of commercial activities like deep sea mining to marine life.
The United States was not present at the meeting as a State Department spokesman said it was “at odds” with current U.S. policy.
Macron said 15 other countries have “formally committed to joining” in addition to the more than 50 countries.
“So that’s a win,” said the French president, at one point saying the ocean “is not for sale” in an apparent swipe at U.S. President Donald Trump.
Meanhwile, von der Leyen said Monday that Europe would contribute more than $45 million to the Global Ocean Programme.
“So I ask you all today: Please speed up ratification, because our ocean needs us to play (our) part,” she said.
Singapore – Of the many military officials darting across the lobby of Singapore’s Shangri-La Hotel this weekend, there has been one significant absence.
China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun skipped the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier security forum, with Beijing sending a delegation of lower-ranking representatives instead.
It was the first time since 2019 that China has not dispatched its defence minister to the high-level dialogue on regional defence, except when the event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beijing’s decision raised eyebrows in Singapore, coming at a time of heightened tensions between China and the United States – the world’s two biggest superpowers.
Dong’s absence meant there was no face-to-face meeting with his US counterpart, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, who had the floor to himself on Saturday when he told the defence forum that the military threat posed by China was potentially imminent.
“It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific,” Hegseth told delegates in Singapore.
Pointing to China’s regular military drills around Taiwan as well as increasingly frequent skirmishes in the South China Sea, Hegseth said Beijing was proactively harassing its neighbours.
“There’s no reason to sugar-coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent,” Hegseth said.
He also pointed to China’s growing military assertiveness as a reason for Asian nations to boost their defence spending, pointing to Germany, which has pledged to move towards spending 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence.
“It doesn’t make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key allies in Asia spend less on defence in the face of an even more formidable threat,” Hegseth said.
The defence chief also looked to reassure Asian allies that Washington was committed to Asia Pacific security despite strained ties in recent months as US President Donald Trump targeted some close allies with hefty trade tariffs.
“America is proud to be back in the Indo-Pacific, and we’re here to stay,” he said, opening his speech.
Some analysts were quick to play down the severity of Hegseth’s warnings about China.
“Short of a very few countries, not many in this part of the world see China as an imminent threat and would up their [defence] spending,” said Dylan Loh, assistant professor in the public policy and global affairs programme at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
China tight-lipped on defence chief’s absence
In previous years, the Shangri-La Dialogue had provided a rare platform for meetings between Chinese and US officials in the more informal surroundings that the summit could offer.
The structure of the schedule also allowed Beijing’s military chiefs to directly respond to the keynote speech from the US defence secretary and to present their narrative to other members of the Asia Pacific.
Beijing has remained tight-lipped on the reason for Defence Minister Dong’s absence from the forum, fuelling an information void that has been filled by speculation.
One theory is that China did not want to send a high-profile delegate to the event at such a sensitive time as Beijing navigates the tariff war with the Trump administration.
“Any sort of faux pas or comments that may go off script can be picked up and picked apart or misconstrued,” said Loh, of Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
“So the question is why take the risk when US-China relations are at a very delicate point at this moment,” Loh told Al Jazeera.
Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun attends the Beijing Xiangshan Forum in China in September 2024 [Florence Lo/Reuters]
The Shangri-La Dialogue weekend has not always been the easiest occasion for Chinese defence ministers. In recent years, they have faced difficult questions from their counterparts in other countries, who are unhappy with Beijing’s increasing assertiveness in the Asia Pacific region.
Loh said this could be another factor in Dong’s absence from the high-profile event.
“Any Chinese defence minister coming to Singapore now will be exposing himself and the country to political risk,” he said. “Themes like the South China Sea and possibly Taiwan will emerge, which makes China a convenient target,” Loh added.
Dong was appointed as China’s defence minister in late 2023, after his predecessor, Li Shangfu, was removed from office.
Less than a year into the job, there was speculation surrounding Dong’s new position following media reports that he was under investigation as part of a wider investigation into corruption in the Chinese military. Beijing denied the reports, with the minister continuing to maintain a public profile despite the allegations.
There has also been intense scrutiny of China’s military, following reports of an apparent purge of top-level officials by President Xi Jinping.
One of Beijing’s most senior generals, He Weidong, was missing from a high-profile political meeting in April, adding to rumours surrounding a possible restructuring in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Ian Chong, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie China research centre, said such speculation could be a factor in Dong’s no-show in Singapore.
“Because of the domestic turmoil with China’s senior military, they perhaps don’t want to, or the PLA itself feels that it’s not in a position to send somebody senior,” Chong told Al Jazeera.
Announcing Dong’s absence at a news conference before the summit, Chinese military spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang maintained that communication channels were still open between defence officials in Washington and Beijing.
“China places great importance on US-China military ties, and is open to communication at different levels,” Zhang said.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to “chart a unified and collective path towards a peaceful, prosperous, and just future”, following their meeting in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
In a world roiled by United States President Donald Trump’s threats of crippling tariffs and rising economic uncertainties, alternative centres of global power were on full display, with the GCC and China attending the ASEAN summit for the group’s inaugural trilateral meeting on Tuesday.
In their joint statement released on Wednesday, the GCC – comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – China, and ASEAN members Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar said they were committed to enhancing economic cooperation.
Chief among that cooperation will be the promotion of free trade, the signatories said, adding they looked “forward to the early completion of the GCC-China Free Trade Agreement negotiations” and the upgrading of the ASEAN-China free trade area.
“We reaffirm our collective resolve to work hand in hand to unleash the full potential of our partnership, and ensure that our cooperation translates into tangible benefits for our peoples and societies,” they said.
ASEAN and GCC members join hands for a group photo as they attend the 2nd ASEAN-GCC Summit at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 27, 2025 [Hasnoor Hussain/Reuters]
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim – whose country is currently chair of ASEAN and hosted the summits – told a news conference that the US remains an important market while also noting that ASEAN, the GCC, and China collectively represent a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $24.87 trillion with a total population of about 2.15 billion.
“This collective scale offers vast opportunities to synergise our markets, deepen innovation, and promote cross-regional investment,” Anwar said.
The prime minister went on to dismiss suggestions that the ASEAN bloc of nations was leaning excessively towards China, stressing that the regional grouping remained committed to maintaining balanced engagement with all major powers, including the US.
James Chin, professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania in Australia, told Al Jazeera that the tripartite meeting was particularly important for China, which is being “given a platform where the US is not around”.
ASEAN and the GCC “already view China as a global power”, Chin said.
‘The Gulf is very rich, ASEAN is a tiger, China…’
China’s Premier Li Qiang, who attended the summit, said Beijing was ready to work with the GCC and ASEAN “on the basis of mutual respect and equality”.
China will work with “ASEAN and the GCC to strengthen the alignment of development strategies, increase macro policy coordination, and deepen collaboration on industrial specialisation,” he said.
Former Malaysian ambassador to the US Mohamed Nazri bin Abdul Aziz said China was “quickly filling up the vacuum” in global leadership felt in many countries in the aftermath of Trump’s tariff threats.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, right, poses for photos with China’s Premier Li Qiang before the ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-China Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday [Mohd Rasfan/Pool via Reuters]
The economic future looks bright, Nazri said, for ASEAN, China and the Gulf countries, where economies are experiencing high growth rates while the US and European Union face stagnation.
“The Gulf is very rich, ASEAN is a tiger, China… I cannot even imagine where the future lies,” Nazri said.
Jaideep Singh, an analyst with the Institute of Strategic & International Studies in Malaysia, said ASEAN’s trade with GCC countries has been experiencing rapid growth.
Total trade between ASEAN and the Gulf countries stood at some $63bn as of 2024, making GCC the fifth-largest external trading partner of the regional bloc, while Malaysia’s trade with the GCC grew by 60 percent from 2019 to 2024.
In terms of foreign direct investment, FDI from GCC countries in ASEAN totalled some $5bn as of 2023, of which $1.5bn went to Malaysia alone, Singh said.
However, the US, China, Singapore and the EU still make up the lion’s share of FDI in Malaysian manufacturing and services.
US still ASEAN’s biggest export market
Even as China’s trade with ASEAN grows, economist say, the US still remains a huge market for regional countries.
In early 2024, the US took over China as ASEAN’s largest export market, with 15 percent of the bloc’s exports destined for its markets, up nearly 4 percent since 2018, said Carmelo Ferlito, CEO of the Center for Market Education (CME), a think tank based in Malaysia and Indonesia.
“The US is also the largest source of cumulative foreign direct investment in ASEAN, with total stock reaching nearly $480bn in 2023 – almost double the combined US investments in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan,” Ferlito said.
Israel’s war on Gaza was also highlighted at the ASEAN-GCC-China meeting on Tuesday.
Delegates condemned attacks against civilians and called for a durable ceasefire and unhindered delivery of fuel, food, essential services, and medicine throughout the Palestinian territory.
Supporting a two-state solution to the conflict, the joint communique also called for the release of captives and arbitrarily-detained people, and an end to the “illegal presence of the State of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory as soon as possible”.
The civil war in Myanmar was also a focus of the talks among ASEAN members at their summit on Tuesday, who called for an extension and expansion of a ceasefire among the warring sides, which was declared following the earthquake that struck the country in March. The ceasefire is due to run out by the end of May. However, human rights groups have documented repeated air attacks by the military regime on the country’s civilian population despite the purported temporary cessation of fighting.
Zachary Abuza, professor of Southeast Asia politics and security issues at the Washington-based National War College, said that while Prime Minister Anwar may be “more proactive” – in his role as ASEAN chair – in wanting to resolve the conflict, Myanmar’s military rulers were “not a good faith actor” in peace talks.
“The military has absolutely no interest in anything resembling a power-sharing agreement,” he said.
1 of 3 | Policy advisor Kim Hyung-suk said Monday that People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo would support a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI
SEOUL, May 26 (UPI) — Conservative South Korean presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo would ”proactively support” a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if elected, a key policy adviser said Monday.
Kim Hyung-suk, co-chair of the Unification and Foreign Affairs Committee of the candidate’s People Power Party, made the remark during a briefing with foreign media in downtown Seoul. South Korea’s presidential election will be held on June 3, with Kim trailing liberal frontrunner Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party in polls.
“If Mr. Trump seeks to re-engage with Kim Jong Un on talks of denuclearization [and] addressing peace and prosperity issues on the Korean Peninsula … [Kim Moon-soo] will proactively support the communication between the two,” Kim said.
“We [would] respect and highly approve of their communications,” he added.
The White House has not prioritized North Korea in its foreign policy agenda since Trump returned to office, but there has been speculation that the president may look to revive nuclear negotiations with Kim Jong Un.
During Trump’s first term, the two leaders held a pair of high-profile summits and met briefly a third time at the DMZ. The diplomatic outreach failed to result in a nuclear deal, however, and Pyongyang has accelerated the development of its weapons programs in the intervening years.
At the beginning of April, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that there has been communication with North Korea and that the two sides would “probably do something at some point.”
“I have a very good relationship with [Kim],” Trump said. “I think it’s very important. He’s a big nuclear nation and he’s a very smart guy.”
Relations between the two Koreas have deteriorated dramatically in recent years, with Pyongyang officially designating the South a “hostile state” in a 2024 constitutional revision.
On Monday, Kim Hyung-suk said that a Kim Moon-soo administration would aim to “normalize inter-Korean relations” while maintaining Washington and Seoul’s longtime stance calling for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear arsenal.
“The Kim Moon-soo administration will consistently strive for a phased and actionable solution for the complete denuclearization of North Korea in close cooperation with the Trump administration,” he said.
The policy adviser added that Kim is eager to engage with North Korea and is making outreach plans with or without involvement from the Trump administration.
“As we know, President Trump is very busy these days due to a long list of different engagements internationally,” Kim said. “I don’t think we can wait years and years for the two to meet. In order to bring North Korea to the table, we are going to actively pursue communication, whether it be three-party or two-party.”
Kim’s opponent in the election, Lee Jae-myung, also voiced his support for engaging with North Korea while on the campaign trail Monday, but called the prospect of his own summit with Kim Jong Un “very difficult.”
Lee announced a campaign pledge on Monday to improve inter-Korean communications, including restoring a military hotline that North Korea has not responded to since 2023, but said that a face-to-face meeting with Kim would pose a challenge.
“It is something that should obviously be done, but I am not sure if it would be possible,” he told reporters at Ajou University in Suwon, south of Seoul. “It would be very difficult in the current situation.”
Arab leaders have urged the international community to fund their plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip after United States President Donald Trump reiterated a proposal to take over the Palestinian territory.
An Arab League summit held on Saturday in Baghdad said in its final statement that it urged “countries and international and regional financial institutions to provide prompt financial support” to back its Gaza reconstruction plan.
“This genocide [in Gaza] has reached a level of ugliness unparalleled in all conflicts in history,” Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in his opening speech at the 34th Arab Summit, which was dominated by Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
He said Iraq backed the creation of an “Arab fund to support reconstruction efforts”, adding that Iraq will contribute $20m towards the fund and another $20m for Lebanon, which has also been in conflict with Israel.
The Iraqi prime minister said Baghdad rejects “the forced displacement of Palestinians”, calling for an end to “the massacres in Gaza, the attacks on the West Bank and the occupied territories”.
“We have called, and continue to call, for serious and responsible Arab action to save Gaza and reactivate the UNRWA,” he said, referring to the UN body for Palestinian aid.
Saturday’s talks in the Iraqi capital came only a day after Trump completed his Middle East tour, triggering hopes of a ceasefire and the renewal of aid delivery to Gaza.
‘Carnage unfolding in Gaza’
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez – who have sharply criticised Israel’s genocide in Gaza – were guests at the summit.
“We need a permanent ceasefire now, the unconditional release of the hostages now, and the free flow of humanitarian aid ending the blockade now,” Guterres said.
Spain’s Sanchez said the humanitarian crisis in Gaza must end “immediately and without delay”.
“Palestine and Spain are working on a new draft to be presented to the United Nations, where we are demanding Israel to end the unjust humanitarian siege laid to Gaza and to allow for the unconditional delivery of relief aid into Gaza”, he said.
He also said there must be “more pressure on Israel to end the carnage unfolding in Gaza by all the conceivable means, namely the tools available under the international law.”
“And here, I would like to announce that Spain will present a proposal to the General Assembly for the International Criminal Court to examine Israel’s compliance with the delivery of relief aid into Gaza,” the Spanish prime minister added.
In March, Israel ended a ceasefire reached with Hamas in January, renewing deadly attacks across Gaza and forcing a blockade of food and other essential items. In recent days, Israel has intensified its offensive, as tens of thousands of Palestinians are forced to starve.
At a preparatory meeting of the Arab League summit, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said they will try to endorse decisions that were made at their meeting in Cairo in March to support Gaza’s reconstruction as an alternative to Trump’s widely condemned proposal to take over the enclave.
During his visit to Qatar, Trump on Thursday reiterated that he wanted the US to “take” Gaza and turn it into a “freedom zone”. Earlier this year, he caused an uproar by declaring that the US would turn Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East”, prompting Arab leaders to come up with a plan to rebuild the territory, at a summit in Cairo.
The Arab plan for Gaza proposes rebuilding the Palestinian enclave without displacing its 2.4 million residents.
Besides Gaza, Arab officials also discussed Syria, which only six months ago entered a new chapter in its history after the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Earlier this week, Trump in Riyadh met Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose group spearheaded the offensive that toppled al-Assad last December. Prior to their meeting, he also announced that US sanctions on Syria will be lifted in a huge boost to the government in Damascus.
Al-Sharaa, who was imprisoned for years in Iraq on charges of belonging to al-Qaeda following the 2003 US-led invasion, however, missed Baghdad’s summit after several powerful Iraqi politicians voiced opposition to his visit. The Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani represented Damascus instead.
Saturday’s summit also came amid Iran’s ongoing nuclear talks with the US. Trump has pursued diplomacy with Iran as he seeks to stave off a threatened military strike by Israel on Iran, a desire shared by many of the region’s leaders.
On Thursday, Trump said a deal was “getting close”, but by Friday, he was warning that “something bad is going to happen” if the Iranians do not move fast.
Iraq has only recently regained a semblance of normalcy after decades of devastating conflict and turmoil, and its leaders view the summit as an opportunity to project an image of stability.
Reporting from Baghdad, Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed said the summit was “very crucial” for Iraq.
“This is the first time the summit has been held in Iraq since 2012 and Iraq takes it as a credit to regain its rule as a player to bridge the gap between member states of the Arab League,” he said.
