According to the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations, the members have agreed to "acknowledge free, fair and mutually beneficial trade" as a "key engine" for growth and jobs as well as to note the importance of fighting protectionism.
"We strive to reduce tariff barriers, non-tariff barriers and subsidies," the leaders were quoted as saying by Reuters in a statement after a meeting that focused heavily on a current trade row between the US and its allies.
French President Emmanuel Macron said at a briefing following the summit that "the G7 meeting did not allow us to remove all the differences, but it allowed us, in conditions of the existing tension, to preserve unity on all issues where it was possible."
In turn, the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday that he told US President Donald Trump that US tariffs on steel and aluminum were "insulting" and "not helping."
"I highlighted directly to the president that… it's kind of insulting, and I highlighted that it was not helping in our renegotiation of NAFTA, and that it would be with regret, but it would be with absolute certainty and firmness that we move forward with retaliatory measures on July 1," Trudeau said at the press conference following the summit.
"I said very simply that it is not something we are even remotely interested or looking at this time to have Russia returned to the G7," Trudeau said at the press conference following the two-day summit.
Moreover, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said that G7 countries agreed to be ready to adopt new restrictive measures against Russia.
"I also welcome the G7’s recognition of the need to maintain sanctions on Russia in light of Russia’s failure to fully implement the Minsk Agreements in Ukraine. We have agreed to stand ready to take further restrictive measures against Russia if necessary," May said in a statement after the two-day G7 summit.
"Talking about going from the G7 to the G8, let's talk simply: up to the beginning of 2014, we had the G8 meetings, and then that was a collective decision to go back to the G7 format,… it was after the invasion in Ukraine by Russia, and in Minsk we've been engaged in a number of agreements. The Minsk agreements have to be respected," Macron said.
Macron also recalled his recent visit to St. Petersburg and said he wanted to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I want to work more closely with President Putin with no complacency, but I do believe that we can put right some mistakes of history," the French leader added. Russia is a great European nation, Macron stressed.
"And on political, economic matters, even cybersecurity, collective security, we can get results and we have to work together," he said.
France would like the Minsk agreements to be fulfilled tomorrow, he said.
"As soon as the agreements are fulfilled, we open the game, and that's really my wish. I'd like to have a G8 in Biarritz next year. And that would be because the Russians fulfill the Minsk agreements," Macron concluded.
In addition, the outcome of the G7 meeting in Canada is better than one might expect, French President Emmanuel Macron said at a briefing.
However, Emmanuel Macron stressed that the summit has not allowed to remove all disagreements between the countries.
"The G7 did not enable us to overcome all disagreements, but everyone knew we were working against the background of tensions, and we managed to preserve unity everywhere possible: on foreign affairs, on trade," the French leader said at a press conference after the summit.
