The 51st G7 summit, the 57th annual meeting of the organization G7, is being held from 16 to 17 June 2025 in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada. This is the 2nd G7 summit to be held in Kananaskis since the 28th G8 summit in 2002.
Leaders at the summit
The 2025 summit will be the first summit for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. It will be also the first summit for U.S. President Donald Trump since the 45th G7 summit in 2019. The visit will mark the first international visit to Canada for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, and will mark the second visit to Canada by U.S. President Donald Trump and the first visit since the 44th G7 summit in 2018. It will mark the third visit to Canada for French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In May, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was invited to attend and has now confirmed her attendance. . On 30 May, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was invited and is expected to attend. In June, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman was invited, however on 12 June it was confirmed that Salman will not be attending the summit.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was initially invited by Mark Carney to attend the G7 summit, which he accepted. However, on 12 June, Prabowo announced that he would skip the summit and meet Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Russian President Vladimir Putin instead.
Participants and representatives
The G7 2025 summit website lists three core actions on the agenda for this year’s discussions: “Protecting our communities around the world”; “Building energy security and accelerating the digital transition”; and “Securing the partnerships of the future”.
But G7 leaders are likely to focus on the unfolding conflict between Israel and Iran.
If this does not dominate discussions entirely, other items on the agenda at this year’s G7 summit are likely to be global trade issues, the Russia-Ukraine war and China.
Israel-Iran crisis
Julia Kulik, director of strategic initiatives for the G7 Research Group at the University of Toronto’s Trinity College, said conversations on global peace that would have focused on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Israel’s war on Gaza will now likely pivot to Iran.
“There will be tough questions from other leaders around the table to Donald Trump about what went wrong with the negotiations and about what he’s going to do to get Israel to de-escalate before things get worse,” Kulik told Al Jazeera.
The G7 “was designed to be a crisis response group with the ability to act and adapt quickly to international challenges … so in some ways it’s good they’re meeting this weekend as they’ll have the ability to respond quickly”, she added.
Robert Rogowsky, professor of trade and economic diplomacy at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said there is no way G7 members can avoid the subject of the latest crisis in the Middle East. “That attack, counterattack, and the US declaration that it was not involved and its warning about staying away from American assets as targets is likely to be the first thing discussed, as it now creates the possibility of a real, all-out war in the Middle East. The major neighbouring parties will have to decide how to align themselves.” Rogowsky said.
Global trade
While Carney is hoping to cover uncontroversial themes, such as building friendlier global supply chains for materials like critical minerals, China may also be a focus of discussions.
Following a meeting of G7 finance ministers in Canada in May, the group issued a joint communique saying they would continue to monitor “nonmarket policies and practices” which contribute to imbalances in global trade. The statement did not mention China, but “nonmarket policies” often refer to export subsidies and currency policies that the Trump administration says provide an advantage in international trade. The statement was seen as a swipe at China’s trade practices, in particular its lending practices, which many see as adding debt for poorer countries.
Leaders of the G7 are also expected to discuss concerns about rising tensions between China and Taiwan in the East and South China Seas, as well as China’s expanding military presence there.
Russia-Ukraine war
A joint statement of G7 foreign ministers following an earlier meeting in Quebec in mid-March expressed strong support for Kyiv. It said finance ministers had “discussed imposing further costs on Russia” if Moscow did not agree to a ceasefire.
The UK and the EU announced a new round of sanctions against Russia in May, but Trump, who has been conducting discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the US would not follow suit.
Sanctions against Russia and achieving a ceasefire may, therefore, also be a focus of discussions this week.
Global development
This could be a thorny issue.
Global development, particularly in African countries, has long been a primary focus of G7 discussions. However, this year, the US has made clear that it wishes to de-prioritise economic and humanitarian assistance for other countries. It has largely shuttered the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and says it plans large cuts to funding for other health and development initiatives overseas, as well.
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What meetings could take place on the sidelines of the G7 summit?
US-EU
Donald Trump is expected to hold meetings with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Japan’s prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba. Both leaders are eager to agree on a trade deal with Trump as soon as possible to avoid reciprocal tariffs, due to come back into place following a pause in early July.
US-Canada-Mexico
Trump, Carney and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum may also hold a separate meeting of North American leaders on trade and border security. In February, Trump postponed his planned 25-percent import tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods at the last minute. Canada’s then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sheinbaum both agreed to increase border security to prevent the trafficking of drugs and migrants into the US, averting a trade war. Trump says he has been particularly concerned about the flow of the drug fentanyl into the US from both Canada and Mexico.
US-South Africa
South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has told reporters he will have a second meeting with Trump during the G7 summit, following the two leaders’ meeting in Washington, DC, on May 21, when Trump accused South Africa of “genocide” against white farmers. Earlier in May, 59 white “refugees” were flown from South Africa to the US as part of a relocation plan for white South Africans devised by the Trump administration.
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