G7 leaders want to contain the Israel-Iran conflict

KANANASKIS, Alberta — The Group of Seven 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 U.S. President Donald 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 G7 leaders agree that they "have to find a way to de-escalate the situation" in the Middle East because the conflict between Israel and Iran risks inflaming the "tinderbox" of Gaza and hurting the global economy. Starmer said he'd spoken to Trump about the issue, adding that "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 that it was a mistake to remove Russia from the organization in 2014 and that doing so had destabilized the world. He also suggested it would be a good idea to add China to the G7. 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 G7 summit is full of combustible tensions and it's not clear 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 and escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. 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. Trump wants to focus on trade, though he may have to balance those issues with the broader need by the G7 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 G7 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 G7 itself at a time 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 G7 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 G7 in Trump's first term. The White House has stayed decidedly mum about its goals for the G7, which originated as a 1973 finance ministers' meeting to address the oil crisis and steadily evolved into a yearly summit that is meant to foster personal relationships among world leaders and address global problems. The G7 briefly expanded to the G8 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 is also expected to have bilateral meetings or pull aside conversations with Starmer, Merz, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 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, the Canadian leader, has been outspoken in saying his country 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. "Trump will try to coordinate the group against China's economic coercion," Josh Lipsky, chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council, wrote in an analysis. "But the rest of the leaders may turn back to Trump and say that this kind of coordination, which is at the heart of why the G7 works, would be easier if he weren't imposing tariffs on his allies." ___ Boak reported from Calgary, Alberta. Associated Press writers Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report.