G7 foreign ministers’ meet: Ukraine, China’s critical mineral dominance on agenda
Options for financing Ukraine’s war needs may come to the fore during the talks to be held in the Niagara region on Canada’s US border.
Diplomats are meeting after President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Moscow’s two largest oil companies in October and criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for refusing to end the conflict.
Trump has also pushed other European countries to stop buying the oil that he says funds Moscow’s war machine.
Ukraine is enduring devastating Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure, but Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand has refrained from promising concrete results to help Kiev in the Niagara talks.
He told AFP the priority at the meeting was to broaden the discussion beyond the Group of Seven, which includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. “It is important for Canada to encourage a multilateral conversation, especially in such a volatile and complex environment.” said Anand. Representatives from Saudi Arabia, India, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, Mexico and South Korea will also be present.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will hold bilateral talks with Anand on Wednesday, the second and last day of the G7 meeting.
Anand told AFP he did not expect to raise the issue of Trump’s trade war, which has led to job losses and suppressed economic growth in Canada.
“We will have a meeting and we will have many topics to discuss regarding global issues,” Anand said.
“The trade issue is being handled by other ministers.”
Trump abruptly ended trade talks with Canada last month, shortly after a cordial meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House.
The president expressed anger at an ad produced by the Ontario provincial government that included quotes from former president Ronald Reagan about the damage caused by tariffs.
critical minerals
The G7’s top diplomats are meeting two weeks after the group’s energy secretaries agreed on further steps to counter China’s dominance of critical mineral supply chains, an area of growing concern for the world’s industrialized democracies.
Beijing has established dominant market control over the refining and processing of various minerals, especially rare earth materials needed for magnets that power complex technologies.
Last month, the G7 announced a series of joint projects to increase refining capacity, excluding China.
Although the United States was not a party to any of these initial agreements, the Trump administration has signaled alignment with its G7 partners.
A State Department official told reporters ahead of the Niagara meeting that critical mineral supply chains would be a “major focus.”
“There is a growing global consensus among many of our partners and allies that economic security is national security,” the official said.
