Foreign Minister Of G7 Countries Meets In Canada Amid Rising Tensions In The Aftermath Of Trump's Policy

JAKARTA - Foreign ministers from prominent Western democracies met in Canada on Thursday after seven weeks of growing tensions between US allies and President Donald Trump over changes to his foreign policy towards Ukraine and the implementation of tariffs.

G7 ministers from the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States, together with the European Union, met in the remote tourist town of La Malbaie, which was located in the Quebec hills during the two-day meeting which was previously generally a consensus on the issues they faced.

As reported by Reuters on Thursday, March 13, Washington's main agenda is to get a briefing on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's talks on Tuesday with Kyiv in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in which Ukraine said it was ready to support a 30-day ceasefire agreement.

But ahead of the first G7 meeting of the Canadian presidency, the preparation of the final statement agreed and covered everything became difficult.

The US's decision to impose a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports immediately sparked countermeasures from Canada and the EU, underscoring tensions.

Washington has sought to impose strict limits on the language surrounding Ukraine and oppose separate declarations of restrictions on Russia's shadow fleet, an obscure shipping network that evades sanctions, while demanding tougher language against China.

On Monday, Rubio warned Washington not to want language that could undermine efforts to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table.

He said a good G7 statement would recognize the United States had sought progress in the process of ending the war.

The G7 diplomats said the positive results from Jeddah could at least ease talks about Ukraine.

The United States, since Trump returned to office on January 20, has taken an unfriendly stance on Ukraine, pushing for a quick deal to end the war, demanding European partners bear more burdens without publicly supporting their role in future talks, and warming Washington's relations with Moscow.