The National Times - Ukraine truce dominates G7 talks clouded by Trump's Canada threats

Rubio headed to Charlevoix, Quebec after meeting Ukrainian officials in the Saudi city of Jeddah to discuss an initial ceasefire.

He said he wanted the club of industrial democracies to recognize that "the United States has done a good thing for the world," after Kyiv backed a US-proposed 30-day truce with Russia.

"Now we all eagerly await the Russian response," Rubio told reporters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the United States would issue a "strong" response and pressure Moscow if it did not agree to halt conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

The Kremlin in its first comments on the proposition said that it was waiting for details from Washington.

In most US administrations, presidents and senior officials make Canada a first destination and the visits attract little attention, with the friendly nations focusing on reaffirming their longstanding ties.

But Rubio's visit comes as President Donald Trump continues to discuss absorbing Canada into the United States while escalating a trade war that could plunge the Canadian economy into a recession.

Rubio said the three-day meeting on the banks of the St. Lawrence River would not address Canadian sovereignty. "We're going to be focused on the G7," Rubio said as his plane stopped in Ireland on route to Canada.

"This isn't a meeting about how we're going to take over Canada."

- 'Nobody is safe' -

Outgoing Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has said Trump is trying to sabotage the Canadian economy to make his annexation bid "easier" and warned his country faces an "existential challenge," from Washington.

Trudeau will be replaced in the coming days by former central banker Mark Carney who said "the Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country".

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said Wednesday the G7 talks would not address Trump's annexation comments because Canada's sovereignty was "not negotiable."

She also said that she has warned European leaders not to dismiss Trump's threats, calling Canada "the canary in the coal mine."

"If the US can do this to us, their closest friend and ally, then nobody is safe," she told reporters before heading to Charlevoix.

- Tariffs -

Joly said she will raise trade tariffs "in every single meeting" at the G7.

Trump's tariffs campaign has rattled markets and unsettled the global trade outlook.

He has threatened and imposed a dizzying number of levies, including a blanket 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports that came into effect Wednesday.

Rubio acknowledged that he would likely discuss trade tensions when he meets Joly but said the two countries still had "common interests", including in the G7.

"Our obligation is to try, to the extent possible, to not allow the things we work on together to be impacted negatively by the things we disagree on right now," Rubio told reporters on his way to Saudi Arabia.

The meeting of top diplomats from the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Italy comes ahead of a G7 summit in the Canadian province of Alberta in June.

burs/bs/tw

S.M.Riley--TNT