WASHINGTON DC – US President Donald Trump is set to have a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and other world leaders in the margins of the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Canada, White House officials confirmed on Sunday, Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent reports.
Trump arrived in the Canadian Rockies late Sunday evening expressing optimism about potential trade agreements and dealmaking as the world leaders’ gathering comes at a pivotal moment when global trade relationships and international security concerns - in light of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and Middle East instability - intersect, potentially reshaping diplomatic alliances and economic partnerships.
“I think we’ll have a few new trade deals,” Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for the summit on Sunday.
Asked about how he was planning to de-escalate between Iran and Israel, Trump said he hoped there would be a deal: “It’s time for a deal,” he emphasized, adding, “Sometimes they have to fight it out. We’ll see what happens.”
Besides the conflict in the Middle East, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will also be among key topics during Trump’s meetings with G7 allies, a senior US administration official told reporters Sunday night.
John Herbst, former US ambassador to Ukraine during George W. Bush’s administration, told Kyiv Post that he expects some language on Russia’s war that “will be at least OK, or perhaps somewhat better.”
“Unfortunately, the US blocked G-7 sanctions on Russia last week,” he recalled.
Herbst currently serves as senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.
When asked by Kyiv Post about potential deliverables of the G7 summit, Herbst said, “Possible but unlikely is some language touching on the Iran-Russian relationship,” adding, though, “the problem here is the White House’s unwillingness to criticize Russia and the European skepticism of Israel.”
Another relevant issue, according to the Ambassador, is Russia’s frozen state assets. But progress in this field last year was “due to [former US President Joe] Biden,” he recalled.
While the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was interested in moving forward on the frozen assets issue, Trump “does not appear to be,” Herbst says.
“And France, Germany, Italy, and Japan are weak on this,” the Ambassador concluded.
The summit agenda, which was released last week by the Canadian Prime Minister’s office, also encompasses other pressing issues, such as critical minerals access, illegal migration, drug smuggling, along international security.
When it comes to the leader’s joint final communique, Canada has reportedly dispensed with the idea of issuing one this year and will instead release chair summaries.
This has “very much to do with Trump,” Western diplomats explained to Kyiv Post on Sunday, reminding that the last time Canada was host, during Trump’s first term in 2018, the US leader abruptly left the Summit before instructing his delegation to disapprove the final communique as he slammed then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “very dishonest and weak.”