KANANASKIS, Alberta (Reuters) -Canada dropped plans for the Group of Seven to issue a strong statement on the Ukraine war after resistance from the United States, a Canadian official told reporters on the sidelines of a leaders’ summit on Tuesday.

The official said the U.S. side wanted to water down the draft statement and Canada felt this would not be fair to Ukraine, whose president arrived at the summit on Tuesday.

The language agreed to by the remaining six members of the grouping will be contained in a statement that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is due to issue later in the day, the official said.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Chris Reese)

Open this photo in gallery: The government’s consumer rebate program aims to help make electric vehicles more affordable.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

The federal government intends to bring back consumer rebates for electric vehicles but doesn’t yet quite know what they’ll look like, Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin said on Tuesday.

The federal government launched its rebate program – the Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles program or iZEV, – in 2019, but it ran out of funding earlier this year, leading Ottawa to pause the program.

Speaking to The Canadian Press while leaving the House of Commons – where she spent the better part of question period fending off Conversative criticisms of Ottawa’s EV mandate – Dabrusin said a renewed consumer rebate is something being worked on.

“Will it be named, iZEV? That I can’t tell you. But there will be a consumer rebate,” Dabrusin said.

The iZEV program offered up to $5,000 off the cost of a new electric vehicle. Between May 2019 and January 2025, the federal government spent nearly $3 billion on the EV rebate program for more than half a million new passenger vehicles.

The Liberal platform during the election suggested it would look for a way to reintroduce the $5,000 rebate program.

Conservatives spent Tuesday in Ottawa calling for the mandate to be scrapped, citing concerns about an auto sector threatened by U.S. tariffs, and debating an opposition motion to compel the government to “immediately end their ban on gas-powered vehicles.”

“Right now (the Liberals) have a mandate in place that makes it so that Canadians will have to buy EVs. But that does not fit the needs of Canadian families,” said Lethbridge MP Rachel Thomas during question period.

“If the Liberal government is truly going to stand with auto workers, then stop making the very vehicles that they’re producing illegal.”

Canada’s electric vehicle mandate requires all new light-duty passenger vehicles sold to be zero-emissions by 2035. Sales of used gas-powered vehicles will still be allowed after 2035. Plug-in hybrid vehicles would also be allowed for sale.

“It’s been in place since 2023. I don’t see why the Conservatives believe we need to change it in the face of what we’re facing with the U.S. tariffs on the auto industry,” Dabrusin told The Canadian Press following question period.

Canada’s auto manufacturers have grown on their calls for the government to repeal the mandate, as EV sales dropped in early 2025 as the rebates ended.

Electric vehicles remain more expensive than their gas-powered equivalents.

The first quarter of 2025 saw zero-emissions vehicles represent only 8.11 per cent of all new vehicle sales in Canada – a drop from the 16.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to data from Statistics Canada.

On a monthly basis through 2024, the share of EVs among new vehicle sales never dropped below 10.65 per cent, and peaked at 18.29 per cent in December.

In April of 2025, the most recent data from StatCan, EV sales dropped to 7.53 per cent of all new vehicles off of Canadian lots.

Beginning in 2026, the government’s EV mandate requires at least 20 per cent of new light-duty vehicles offered for sale in that year be zero-emission. That share rises each year until it reaches 100 per cent in 2035.

“We need support from allies and I’m here,” Zelenskyy said, before adding, “We are ready for the peace negotiations, unconditional ceasefire. I think it’s very important. But for this, we need pressure.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his counterparts from the U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Japan were joined during Tuesday’s final sessions by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO chief Mark Rutte.

KANANASKIS, Alberta (AP) — Six of the Group of Seven leaders discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Israel-Iran conflict but failed to reach major agreements on those and many other top issues — wrapping up a summit that was forced to try and show how the wealthy nations’ club might still shape global policy despite the early departure of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The remaining leaders agreed to jointly attempt to combat what they called non-market policies that could jeopardize global access to critical minerals. They also pledged to limit the downsides of artificial intelligence on jobs and the environment, while still embracing the potential of the “technological revolution.”

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There was consensus on other issues, but though the summit was meant to showcase unity on top global concerns, no joint statement on the conflict in Ukraine was released.

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Zelenskyy had been set to meet with Trump while world leaders were gathering in the Canadian Rocky Mountain resort of Kananaskis, but that was scrapped. The U.S. also previously signed an agreement granting American access to Ukraine’s vast mineral resources.

A senior Canadian official said the U.S. opposed a joint statement on Ukraine amid its efforts to promote negotiations with Russia. The official said it only became clear during the summit’s first day on Monday that there wouldn’t be a joint statement — though other attendees suggested no consensus agreement was seriously on the table.

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From left to right: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni seen during a photo at the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Alberta, Canada, on Tuesday STEFAN ROUSSEAU/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to not being authorized to discuss summit deliberations.

In Trump’s absence, the remaining six leaders held an extensive session on Ukraine. Lacking unanimity, individual leaders also met with Zelenskyy to reassure him of their support.

The summit also was largely overshadowed by a showdown over Iran’s nuclear program that could escalate. Israel launched an aerial bombardment campaign against Iran, and Iran has hit back with missiles and drones.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned against the U.S. and other powers pushing for regime change in Iran, suggesting it could destabilize the greater Middle East.

“I believe the greatest mistake today would be to pursue regime change in Iran through military means, as that would lead to chaos,” Macron said.

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.” Getting unanimity — even on a short and broadly worded statement — was a modest measure of success.

Macron said Carney fulfilled his mission as G7 host by preserving the unity of the multilateral organization. “We shouldn’t ask the Canadian presidency to resolve every issue on earth today. That would be unfair,” said Macron, who will host the G7 next year.

Carney said in his final remarks Tuesday evening that Trump’s early exit was about the “extraordinary” situation in the Middle East, not anything that occurred during the summit.

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“There was no problem,” Canada’s prime minister said. “Mr. Trump felt it was better to be in Washington, and I can understand that.”

Carney said Canada would impose new economic sanctions against Russia and was releasing its own statement offering “unwavering support for a secure and sovereign Ukraine.” Asked if the U.S. pushed to soften any possible joint statement from the gathered leaders on Ukraine, Carney said he consulted with Trump while preparing the language his own country used.

Still, Trump’s departure only served to heighten the drama of a world on the verge of several firestorms — and of a summit deprived early of its most-watched world leader. `

“We did everything I had to do at the G7,” Trump said while flying back to Washington. But things were getting awkward even before he left.

After the famous photo from the G7 in 2018 featured Trump and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel displaying less-than-friendly body language, this year’s edition included a dramatic eye-roll by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as French President Emmanuel Macron whispered something in her ear during a Monday roundtable.

That, and concerns about the Russia-Ukraine war, little progress on the conflict in Gaza and now the situation in Iran have made things all the more tense — especially after Trump imposed severe tariffs on multiple nations that risk a global economic slowdown.

Members of Trump’s trade team remained in Canada to continue discussing tariffs, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who sat at the table as world leaders met with Zelenskyy.

Trump’s stance on Ukraine also put him fundamentally at odds with the other G7 leaders, who are clear that Russia is the aggressor in the war. The U.S. declined to join new sanctions against Russia, with Trump saying, “When I sanction a country, that costs the U.S. a lot of money, a tremendous amount of money.”

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Trump also said at the summit that there would have been no war in Ukraine if G7 members hadn’t expelled Putin from the organization in 2014 for annexing Crimea. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the G7 now looks “very pale and quite useless” compared to “for example, such formats as the G20.”

Additionally, the U.S. president has placed greater priority on addressing his grievances with other nations’ trade policies than on collaboration with G7 allies.

He has imposed 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum, as well as 25% tariffs on autos. Trump is also charging a 10% tax on imports from most countries, though he could raise rates on July 9, after the 90-day negotiating period set by him would expire.

One bright spot for Trump during the summit came when he and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a trade framework that was previously announced in May. Trump said British trade was “very well protected” because “I like them, that’s why. That’s their ultimate protection.”

But, while announcing that agreement, Trump brandished pages spelling out the deal and dropped them. Starmer stooped to pick them up, later explaining that he was compelled to ditch diplomatic decorum because anyone else trying to help risked spooking the president’s security team.

“There were quite strict rules about who can get close to the president,” Starmer said, adding that he was “just deeply conscious that in a situation like that it would not have been good for anybody else to have stepped forward.”

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Associated Press writers Josh Boak in Calgary, Alberta, and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva walk as they pose for a photo during the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis, in Alberta, Canada, June 17, 2025. REUTERS/Amber Bracken Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

KANANASKIS, Alberta, June 17 (Reuters) – Canada dropped plans for the Group of Seven to issue a strong statement on the Ukraine war after resistance from the United States, a Canadian official told reporters on the sidelines of a leaders’ summit on Tuesday.

The official said the U.S. side wanted to water down the draft statement and Canada felt this would not be fair to Ukraine, whose president arrived at the summit on Tuesday.

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The language agreed to by the remaining six members of the grouping will be contained in a statement that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is due to issue later in the day, the official said.

Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Chris Reese

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Canada on Monday (June 16, 2025) to attend the G7 Summit at Kananaskis, his first visit to Canada in a decade, with discussions with world leaders to be focussed on crucial global issues, including energy security, technology and innovation.

Prime Minister Modi will also hold several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Summit, coming over a month after India’s Operation Sindoor that had targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attacks.

The G7 summit comes amidst rising geopolitical tensions, including escalating tensions in the Middle East in the wake of the strikes between Iran and Israel, as well as a trade war triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

Mr. Trump, who arrived in Kananaskis Sunday (June 15, 2025) for the G7 Summit was expected to have bilateral meetings with many world leaders. However, Mr. Trump is abruptly leaving the summit, departing a day early Monday as the conflict between Israel and Iran intensifies and the U.S. leader has declared that Tehran should be evacuated “immediately.”

Read: G7 leaders want to contain Israel-Iran conflict, as Donald Trump calls for talks between countries

The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal grouping of the world’s advanced economies- France, the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada and the European Union. Its members meet annually at the G7 Summit to discuss global economic and geopolitical issues.

India, the fifth-largest economy in the world, has regularly been invited to the Outreach session of the G7 Summit in the past few years.

The summit is expected to deliberate on pressing challenges facing the globe including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the situation in West Asia.