G7: is progress possible without the US?
After the early departure of US President Donald Trump, the G7 summit in Canada ended without a joint final declaration. The leaders did, however, call for de-escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict, while at the same time stressing Israel's right to self-defence and that Iran must never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. In addition, six states, without the US, assured Ukraine of their continued support.
Trump caught between two camps
Diena believes Trump will try to postpone a definitive decision on the Middle East conflict:
“Overall, the US president currently finds himself at a crossroads between the section of the Maga movement that categorically rejects any US involvement in 'foreign wars' and explicitly supports Trump as the 'president of peace', and the American evangelicals, who are influential in conservative circles and who, because of their faith, always take a pro-Israeli stance. ... The position of both conservative groups is also fundamentally uncompromising and neither will abandon it. ... However, it can be assumed that Trump will try until the last moment to strike any deal and avoid making an unambiguous decision.”
Because he can
The Süddeutsche Zeitung looks at how Trump can get away with snubbing the other summit participants in this way:
“Long live the G6. G6 - that's the humiliated six. Six leaders who are powerful in their own countries and together still represent a considerable proportion of the global economy. And yet they had to put up with being treated like dwarves in Kananaskis, Canada, by the man who sees himself as the top dog and, in terms of concentration of political, economic and military power, actually is the top dog. G1, i.e. Donald Trump is allowed to do whatever he wants. Lie unchallenged, torpedo the summit choreography and, of course, leave early. Why is he allowed to do this? Because he can.”
Good cop, bad cop
For Corriere della Sera the game between Trump and Netanyahu is rigged:
“An increasingly nervous Trump has played the coercive diplomacy card. The pressure on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has quickly turned into an ultimatum: a demand for total surrender, not just renunciation of uranium enrichment for the atomic bomb. ... Netanyahu is determined to drag the US into the conflict by claiming that only it can destroy the underground nuclear facilities at the Fordow plant with a nearly 15-tonne GBU-57 massive ordnance penetrator bomb. ... Some analysts say Trump and Netanyahu are playing good cop, bad cop: Donald talks about negotiations and peace while Benjamin strikes hard.”
Worrying insouciance
The Times describes the reaction of the summit participants after Trump's departure:
“The rest of the Group of Seven were left not only bemused but also adrift. One country and one man is currently dominating the roiling crises in the Middle East and in global markets. Whatever the pious declarations of those G6 leaders trying to second-guess Washington, they have little influence over Israel's attack on Iran or Mr Trump's mood changes on global trade tariffs. ... Perhaps more worrying than Mr Trump's insouciance over the views of America's most important allies was his insistence ... that the G7 made a mistake in expelling Russia from what was, briefly, the G8.”
Avoiding the Russia issue?
One possible reason for Trump's premature departure from the G7 summit could be the fierce attacks on Kyiv, political scientist Vadym Denysenko speculates in a Facebook post reprinted by Glavkom:
“Over the past two months, Ukraine, the Europeans and a number of Republicans have been pressuring Trump to finally take a tough stance against Russia. Unfortunately, Putin has won this round. And at the G7 summit, immediately after the Russian bombardments, sanctions would have become the central topic. But Trump doesn't want to make any decisions, so he decided to leave.”