United States President Donald Trump has denied signing a draft joint statement from the Group of Seven leaders for de-escalation of conflict between Israel and Iran, reported Reuters. The statement says that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon and that Israel has a right to defend itself. It also states that both sides should protect civilians and emphasises on G7’s broader commitment to peace in the region.
Amid the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, a statement was released by the White House stating that Trump will depart from the G7 summit a day early “because of what’s going on in the Middle East.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt released a statement on X on Monday evening saying that “President Trump will return to Washington tonight so he can attend to many important matters.
“President Trump had a great day at the G7, even signing a major trade deal with the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Much was accomplished, but because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State,” she added.
During the summit, Trump claimed that removing Russia from the summit was a “a big mistake.”
“Putin speaks to me. He doesn’t speak to anybody else. He is not a happy person about it. I can tell you that he basically doesn’t even speak to the people that threw him out, and I agree with him,” said Trump, according to Reuters.
He also suggested that the Russian leader could play a mediator to resolve the conflict between Israel and Iran. French President Emmanuel Macron rejected the suggestion claiming that Russia could not be a negotiator as it started an illegal war against Ukraine.
“The G7 should have the objective for us to converge again, for Ukraine to get a ceasefire to lead to a robust and lasting peace, and in my view it’s a question of seeing whether President Trump is ready to put forward much tougher sanctions on Russia,” Macron said.
The French president also claimed that Trump made an offer to establish a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
