The United States, under Donald Trump, opposed a strong G7 statement condemning Russia over Ukraine, preferring to maintain negotiating leverage, a Canadian government source revealed on Tuesday.
There will be no “separate statement” on Ukraine because “the Americans wanted to dilute it,” the source said on the final day of the G7 summit in Alberta, Canada, attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The other six G7 members – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom – had agreed on strong wording, but a joint statement required U.S. consent.
“Since the Americans are acting as intermediaries and trying to negotiate a deal with Russia regarding the war in Ukraine,” they did not agree, the Canadian government source explained.
“We chose to include all the strong language on Ukraine in the G7 president’s statement,” the source added, referring to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The conflict in Ukraine was on Tuesday’s agenda, after being discussed on Monday in the presence of President Trump.
The Ukrainian President was there to advocate for his country and requested more sanctions against Russia, particularly from the USA.
However, he did not have a chance to meet the U.S. President, due to Trump’s early departure from Alberta to focus on the Iran-Israel conflict.
