Leaders gather for summit overshadowed by Middle East crisis and Trump’s tariffs

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer

Leaders of some of the world’s biggest economic powers arrived in the Canadian Rockies yesterday for a Group of Seven summit overshadowed by a widening war across the Middle East and U.S. President Donald Trump’s unresolved trade war with allies and rivals alike.

Israel’s strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation, which appeared to catch many world leaders unawares, is the latest sign of a more volatile world as Trump seeks to withdraw the U.S. from its role as world policeman.

Speaking on a flight to Canada to attend the summit, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he had discussed efforts to de-escalate the situation with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as other world leaders.

Britain is sending Royal Air Force jets and other military reinforcements to the Middle East.

“We do have longstanding concerns about the nuclear program Iran has. We do recognize Israel’s right to self-defense, but I’m absolutely clear that this needs to de-escalate. There is a huge risk of escalation for the region and more widely,” Starmer said, adding he expected “intense discussions” would continue at the summit.

Trump is summit’s wild card

As summit host, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has decided to abandon the annual practice of issuing a joint statement, or communique, at the end of the meeting.

With other leaders wanting to talk to Trump in an effort to talk him out of imposing tariffs, the summit risks being a series of bilateral conversations rather than a show of unity.

Trump is the summit wild card. Looming over the meeting are Trump’s inflammatory threats to make Canada the 51st state and take over Greenland. French President Emmanuel Macron is making a highly symbolic stop in Greenland on his way to Canada, meeting the Arctic territory’s leader and Denmark’s prime minister aboard a Danish helicopter carrier.

Macron, who is one of the very few leaders to have known Trump during his first term, was the first European leader to visit the White House after Trump took office, emerging unscathed from the Oval Office encounter.

But despite the two leaders’ sporadic bromance, Macron’s approach to Trump has failed to bear major results, with France caught up in the president’s planned tariffs on the European Union.

Nor did it bring any U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine despite Macron’s efforts, together with Starmer, to build a coalition of nations that could deploy forces after any ceasefire with Russia, with the hope it would convince the Trump administration to provide backup.

Trump is scheduled to arrive today (Macau time) in Kananaskis, Alberta. Bilateral meetings between other leaders are possible Sunday, but the summit program does not get underway until tomorrow (Macau time).

Peter Boehm, Canada’s sherpa of the 2018 G7 summit in Quebec and veteran of six G7 summits, expects the heads of state to pivot discussion to devote more time to the war.

“Leaders can accommodate a discussion, perhaps even a statement,” Boehm said. “The foreign policy agenda has become much larger with this.”

‘He tends to be a bully’

Leaders who are not part of the G7 but have been invited to the summit by Carney include the heads of state of India, Ukraine, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, Australia, Mexico and the UAE. Avoiding tariffs will continue to be top of mind.

“Leaders, and there are some new ones coming, will want to meet Donald Trump,” Boehm said. “Trump doesn’t like the big round table as much he likes the one-on-one.”

Bilateral meetings with the American president can be fraught as Trump has used them to try to intimidate the leaders of Ukraine and South Africa.

Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien told a panel this week that if Trump does act out, leaders should ignore him and remain calm like Carney did in his recent Oval Office meeting.

“He tends to be a bully,” Chrétien said. “If Trump has decided to make a show to be in the news, he will do something crazy. Let him do it and keep talking normally.”

Starmer had a warm Oval Office meeting with the president in February, wooing Trump with an invitation for a state visit from King Charles III. Trump has praised the British prime minister, despite their political differences.

Zelenskyy expected to meet Trump

Last month Britain and the U.S. announced they had struck a trade deal that will slash American tariffs on U.K. autos, steel and aluminum. It has yet to take effect, however, though British officials say they are not concerned the Trump administration might go back on its word.

Starmer’s attempts to woo Trump have left him in an awkward position with Canada, the U.K.’s former colony, close ally and fellow Commonwealth member. Starmer has also drawn criticism — especially from Canadians — for failing to address Trump’s stated desire to make Canada the 51st state.

Asked if he has told Trump to stop the 51st state threats, Starmer told The Associated Press: “I’m not going to get into the precise conversations I’ve had, but let me be absolutely clear: Canada is an independent, sovereign country and a much-valued member of the Commonwealth.”

The war in Ukraine will be on the agenda. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to attend the summit and is expected to meet with Trump, a reunion coming just months after their bruising Oval Office encounter which laid bare the risks of having a meeting with the U.S. president.

Starmer met with Carney in Ottawa before the summit for talks focused on security and trade, in the first visit to Canada by a British prime minister for eight years.

German officials were keen to counter the suggestion that the summit would be a “six against one” event, noting that the G7 countries have plenty of differences of emphasis among themselves on various issues.

“The only the problem you cannot forecast is what the president of the United States will do depending on the mood, the need to be in the news,” said Chrétien.  ROB GILLIES & JILL LAWLESS, BANFF, MDT/AP