World leaders of the G7 nations—the US, Italy, France, Germany, the UK, Canada, and Japan—gathered in Canada from June 15-17 for their annual summit. This year’s summit occurred against the backdrop of escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, trade tensions between the US and the G7 nations, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. President Donald Trump ultimately left this year’s summit early to return to Washington and address the rising conflict between Israel and Iran.

To better understand the key takeaways from this year’s summit, we asked SIS professor and Transatlantic Policy Center co-director Garret Martin a few questions.

Heading into this year’s G7 Summit, world leaders were expected to discuss a range of issues, including the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the state of global trade. What topics did leaders end up prioritizing during this summit, and was there any significant agreement or statement made about a major issue?

The host of this year’s G7 summit, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, had indeed planned for a broad agenda for the meeting, before it became somewhat overshadowed by the ongoing fighting between Israel and Iran. Nonetheless, the G7 can still point to a few results, even if those pale in comparison to what did not happen.

On the positive front, the G7 summit did pull off a joint statement on the Middle East—with all leaders reiterating their desire for de-escalation and opposition to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons—which initially President Trump had hinted he would not approve. In addition, the G7 members produced a series of statements on critical policy areas covering transnational repression, migrant smuggling, Artificial Intelligence, and quantum technology. The conference also allowed a venue for various bilateral breakthroughs, such as Canada and India trying to normalize relations or the UK and the US signing a trade deal.

Yet, the omissions stand out from the proceedings, highlighting the fractures among the G7 members. They could not, for instance, agree on a joint statement on the Ukraine War, because of US resistance; this was a stark contrast to previous years, where the G7 had played a key role in coordinating sanctions against Russia. And most telling, the Canadian hosts opted not to try and reach agreement on a traditional communique, which aims to project a picture of cohesion among members of the G7.

This year’s summit occurred against a backdrop of the Trump administration’s tariffs, which were imposed on every member of the G7. What impact did this have on the gathering of leaders, and what tone did it set?

The trade war initiated by the Trump administration in recent months had a significant and multifaceted impact on the G7 meeting. First, it obviously imposed trade as a key topic on the agenda, with the first major session focused on the global economy. Second, the summit was one of the last major opportunities for diplomatic engagements at the highest levels on trade, before the pause on higher tariffs imposed by the US on many countries expires on July 9. Thus, EU President of the Commission Ursula Von der Leyen used the G7 summit to schedule a bilateral meeting with President Trump. And third, the memory of the last G7 summit in Canada in 2018, when trade disputes completely disrupted the discussions and led to Trump’s early departure, loomed large. The hosts intentionally minimized the number of group discussions, so as to limit the risks of a very public spat as occurred seven years ago.

President Trump left this year’s summit early to return to Washington amidst the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel. How common is it for leaders to leave the summit early in the event of a crisis? What impact did his departure have on the summit?

It is rare, if not unprecedented, for leaders to leave a summit early. In 2005, then UK Prime Minister Tony Blair briefly departed from the G8 meeting – when Russia was still a member. Blair was the host in Scotland that year, but briefly headed back to London following the terrorist attacks on July 7th before eventually returning for the end of the summit. Donald Trump, for his part, chose to skip the end of the G7 summit in Canada in 2018, as a way to express his displeasure with the discussions over trade.  

The early exit of the US President was a mixed bag for the G7 summit. On the one hand, it reduced the tension, and remaining participants did not have to walk as much on eggshells to prevent a major public dispute. There were also fewer differences insofar as the subjects covered on day two.

However, the absence of a key player in the US put a clear limit on how impactful the discussions could be among the six remaining countries. Moreover, Trump’s departure also meant that he canceled his planned bilateral meetings with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. This is regrettable as this was a missed opportunity to convince Trump to raise pressure on Russia, as well as an opportunity for Sheinbaum to build rapport with Trump in their first face-to-face meeting.