LA MALBAIE:
Diplomats from the G7 nations reached a deal on a joint statement aimed at showing unity on Friday after weeks of tension between US allies and President Donald Trump over his upending of Western trade, security and Ukraine-related policy, three G7 officials said.
The diplomats said the statement, an all-encompassing document touching on geopolitical issues from across the world, still needed to get the green light from ministers before they wrap up talks on Friday morning.
The Group of Seven ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, along with the European Union, convened in the remote tourist town of La Malbaie, nestled in the Quebec hills, for meetings on Thursday and Friday that in the past have been broadly consensual.
But in the run-up to the first G7 meeting of Canada’s presidency, the crafting of an agreed final statement had been difficult with wranglings over the language regarding Ukraine, the Middle East and Washington’s desire for tougher wording on China.
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