July 17, 2025
KANANASKIS, Alberta (AP) — Six of the Group of Seven leaders met on the final day of their summit Tuesday despite the early departure of U.S. President Donald Trump amid the continuing conflict between Iran and Israel.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his counterparts from the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, and Japan will be joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO chief Mark Rutte to discuss Russia’s war on its neighbor.
World leaders had gathered in Canada with the specific goal of helping to defuse a series of pressure points, only to be disrupted by a showdown over Iran’s nuclear program that could escalate in dangerous and uncontrollable ways. Israel launched an aerial bombardment campaign against Iran on Friday, and Iran has hit back with missiles and drones.
Trump departed a day early from the summit in the Canadian Rocky Mountain resort of Kananaskis, leaving late Monday. As conflict between Israel and Iran intensified, he declared that Tehran should be evacuated “immediately” — while also expressing optimism about a deal to stop the violence.
Before leaving, Trump joined the other leaders in issuing a statement saying Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon” and calling for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza.”
At the summit, Trump warned that Tehran must curb its nuclear program before it’s “too late.” He said Iranian leaders would “like to talk” but they had already had 60 days to reach an agreement on their nuclear ambitions and failed to do so before the Israeli aerial assault began. “They have to make a deal,” he said.
Asked what it would take for the U.S. to get involved in the conflict militarily, Trump said Monday morning, “I don’t want to talk about that.“
Merz told reporters that Germany was planning to draw up a final communique proposal on the Israel-Iran conflict that will stress that “Iran must under no circumstances be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons-capable material.”
