Donald Trump sceptical of imposing new sanctions on Russia

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Donald Trump said he was not ready to impose new sanctions on Russia on the war in Ukraine, despite the pressure on the allies of the Group of Seven and members of congress to increase pressure on Moscow.

Speaking alongside Sir Kerr Starmer, British Prime Minister at the Group of Seven Summit in Canada on Monday, the US President said he is skeptical of new sanctions on Russia, so that other members of the group are expected to announce more punitive measures against Moscow.

“Do not forget, as you know, the sanctions cost us a lot of money. When sanctions on a country, the United States costs a lot of money, a huge amount of money,” Trump said. “The penalties are not that easy. It is not just a street in one direction.”

The American President’s comments highlighted the rift between Western allies over the war in Ukraine, on the eve of President Voludmir Zelinsky’s arrival to the top.

Trump became frustrated because of his inability to mediate a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, which he pledged during the 2024 campaign. However, he was not ready to take more punitive steps against Russia despite calls to do so from many European countries and some Republicans in Capitol Hill, including Lindsie Graham, senator South Carolina.

Earlier in the day, Trump said it was a “big mistake” to exclude Russia from the G7 summit in his first comments in Kanancis, surrounded by Mark Carney, the Prime Minister in Canada.

Trump has long said he would like to see the G7 back to the G8 coordination, as Moscow returned to the barn as it was before the inclusion of Crimea in Russia in 2014.

“This was a big mistake. You will not have that war,” Trump said.[Russia’s President Vladimir] Putin talks to me, he does not talk to anyone else because he was insulted when he was expelled from the G8. ”

The US President said it is “not a bad idea” that China be part of the Group of Seven, which included decades for decades the largest industrial economies in the world and liberal democracies. China and Russia are part of the Group of Twenty, and it is a broader multilateral group that includes the largest economies in the world.

Trump’s comments came at a time when Zelinski, President of Ukraine, was invited to join the group on Tuesday in a special session on the conflict with Russia. It is expected that the US President and Zelinski will also have a bilateral meeting on Tuesday.

In his opening notes, Carney noticed that “G7 is not something without the leadership of the United States.”

The United States and Canada are trying to reach a settlement of commercial conflicts that erupted after Trump imposed a new tariff that is highly down on Canadian mineral imports in the United States. Carney’s office later said that they “agreed to follow the negotiations towards a deal during the next thirty.”

Meanwhile, Trump signed an executive on Monday to implement the US Trade Agreement that was unveiled last month, a major victory for Starmer that reduces the customs tariff for auto exports in the UK and remove fees on flight spare parts. Distinguished issues on UK steel exports still exist.

Trump also met with Ursula von der Lin, head of the European Commission, who said they “ordered the difference to accelerate their work to strike good and exhibitions [trade] deal”.

“Let’s accomplish it,” added Von der Layen. The meeting was the first bilateral discussion since the opening of Trump. The European Union has threatened 50 percent definitions if they did not force a deal by July 9.

It was not clear whether the leaders of the Seven Group would find a common position or a message about the conflict between Israel and Iran, which broke out on the eve of the summit, but Trump urged Tehran to negotiate.

“It is painful for both parties, but I say that Iran does not win this war, and it has to speak,” Trump said. “They must speak immediately, before it is too late.”

When asked if the United States had provided intelligence support to Israel, Trump said Washington “has always been supporting Israel” and added, “Israel is working well at the present time.”

The Trump administration has been an informal theme for other G7 leaders, who are often afraid of its uninterrupted positions on diplomacy and trade matters that make reaching consensus.

Trump’s threat to make Canada added that the 51st state of the United States added a personal advantage to Carne, which hosts the summit.

He met with Starmer in Ottawa on Saturday and Sunday, where the UK leader “Sovereignty” confirmed Canada as part of the Commonwealth.

On Sunday evening in Kananchasis, Carney and Starmer have drinks with French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Italy Georgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Mirz.

The assistants insisted that an informal meeting on wine was spontaneous, but observers looked at him as a coordination session at the last minute to deal with Trump during the summit.

On Monday, Starmer insisted on the existence of a “consensus to cancel the escalation” in Israel’s conflict, Iran among the leaders of the Group. But the people familiar with the matter said that there was no statement on the conflict agreed by the leaders of the Seven Group.

Additional reports from Henry Voy in Kananascis