The leaders of the Group of Seven nations are set to kick off their annual meeting at a resort in the Canadian Rockies. US trade tariffs and conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine are expected to feature heavily.
The office of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney last Saturday released a list of topics to head the agenda at the meeting.
According to the statement, discussions will center on three main thematic areas: reinforcing peace and security in the face of foreign threats, transnational crime and increased wildfire risk; energy security and digital technology; and promoting private investment to improve infrastructure and activate economies.
Other topics are to include examining possibilities for peace in Ukraine and other conflicts and the search for non-EU partners to bolster security and prosperity.
G7 leaders meeting in first such gathering since Trump returned to the White House
The leaders of the Group of Seven economies are coming together for their annual gathering, which is the first of its kind since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
For this G7 meeting, diplomats say Canada has dispensed with the idea of issuing a comprehensive joint final communique, and will instead release chair summaries.
"This will be a successful meeting if Donald Trump doesn't have an eruption that disrupts the entire gathering. Anything above and beyond that is gravy," said University of Ottawa international affairs professor Roland Paris, who was foreign policy adviser to Trudeau.
The last time Canada was host, during Trump's first term in 2018, the US leader left the summit, held in Quebec, before slamming then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as "very dishonest and weak."
He also instructed the US delegation to go back on its approval of the final communique.
