By John Irish and Daphne Psaledakis
LA MALBAIE, Canada (Reuters) -Foreign ministers from the G7 nations reached a deal on a joint statement aimed at showing unity on Friday that backed Ukraine’s territorial integrity and warned Russia to follow Kyiv in accepting a ceasefire or face possible further sanctions.
The meeting followed weeks of tension between U.S. allies and President Donald Trump over his upending of Western trade, security and Ukraine-related policy.
G7 officials had feared they would not be able to agree on an all-encompassing document touching on geopolitical issues from across the world, divisions that they said could have played into the hands of both Russia and China.
“I think we’re on track to have a strong statement. I’m confident that can be the case,” Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told reporters minutes before ministers approved a final text.
“When it comes to different issues, Ukraine and the Middle East, we’ve had sessions talking about these different issues, subjects, and the goal was to keep strong G7 unity.”
The Group of Seven ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, along with the European Union, convened in the remote tourist town of La Malbaie, nestled in the Quebec hills, for meetings on Thursday and Friday that in the past have been broadly consensual.
But in the run-up to the first G7 meeting of Canada’s presidency, the crafting of an agreed final statement had been difficult with wrangling over the language regarding Ukraine, the Middle East and Washington’s desire for tougher wording on China.
In the final draft, they “reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity and right to exist, and its freedom, sovereignty and independence.”
An earlier text referring to the need for security guarantees to ensure a truce was replaced by “assurances,” but they did warn Moscow to follow Kyiv in agreeing to a ceasefire or face further sanctions, including oil price caps.
“G7 members called for Russia to reciprocate by agreeing to a ceasefire on equal terms and implementing it fully.
“They emphasised that any ceasefire must be respected and underscored the need for robust and credible security arrangements to ensure that Ukraine can deter and defend against any renewed acts of aggression,” they said in a reference to Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Washington had sought to impose red lines on language around Ukraine to not harm its talks with Russia and opposed a separate declaration on curbing Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, a murky shipping network that eludes sanctions, while demanding more robust language on China.
The final communique stated G7 opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait by force or coercion, language that will likely be encouraging to Taipei.
There had been wrangling over language regarding Gaza and the Middle East, notably the notion of a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, something the U.S. was resisting.
The final draft made no mention of a two-state solution, dropping language that had stressed its importance in earlier drafts of the text.
“They underscored the imperative of a political horizon for the Palestinian people, achieved through a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that meets the legitimate needs and aspirations of both peoples and advances comprehensive Middle East peace, stability and prosperity,” the draft read.
(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Writing by John Irish; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Howard Goller)
