Group of Seven leaders (G7) on Tuesday affirmed unified support for Israel and called for a resolution to the escalating tensions in the Middle East, as Tel Aviv trades military strikes with Tehran.
“We affirm that Israel has a right to defend itself. We reiterate our support for the security of Israel,” G7 leaders said in a joint statement.
The group condemned Iran for being the “principal source of regional instability and terror,” reiterating the stance that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.
The leaders of the world’s largest advanced economies called for a resolution to the “Iranian crisis” and a “broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza.”
U.S. President Donald Trump will not be attending the second day of the summit “because of what’s going on in the Middle East,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X.
The G7 economies comprise the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, and this year’s summits also invited leaders from the European Union, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Ukraine and South Korea.
The annual gathering seeks to facilitate consensus on the most pressing global economic and geopolitical challenges and to coordinate responses. Among the key agenda this year was also Trump’s host of tariff policy that has darkened the outlook for global economic growth.
There is also the thorny issue of support for Ukraine, or Russia’s rehabilitation, with Trump indicating that he was in no rush to impose tougher sanctions on Russia, dismissing pressure from allied leaders eager to do more to push Moscow to the negotiating table.
Speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier Monday, Trump said the group, earlier known as G8, made a mistake when it expelled Russia in 2014.
The G7 nations’ stance contrasted with that of China which has condemned Israel’s attack on Iran while seeking to play up its role as a peacemaker in the Middle East region. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told both Israeli and Iranian leaders that China was ready to play a constructive role in de-escalating the situation. (CNBC)