“Basically, no statement because the Americans wanted to water it down,” an unnamed Canadian official told reporters on condition of anonymity, according to AFP.
News services on Tuesday reported the proposed statement would have condemned Russia in no uncertain terms – a routine G7 stance before US President Donald Trump’s re-election – but that Washington had argued such an approach could undermine its ability to negotiate.
The other six member countries decided that the watered-down language would not have been fair to Ukraine, the official added, so they opted to reflect its contents in a statement issued by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Trump has repeatedly declined to blame Russia for invading Ukraine. On Monday, Trump repeated his claim that G7 members were essentially responsible for starting the Ukraine war when they expelled Russian President Vladimir Putin from the group in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea.
This year’s annual G7, held in Kananaskis in the Canadian province of Alberta, was overshadowed by the American president’s departure a day early as the conflict between Israel and Iran raged, effectively turning the gathering into a G6.
