June 17, 2025, 9:10 pm


Int'l Correspondent

Published:
2025-06-17 15:52:12 BdST

Trump flies out of G7 summit early over Iran conflict


US President Donald Trump left a G7 summit in Canada a day early on Monday, heading back to the White House as Israel and Iran traded missile fire for a fifth straight day.

Trump's helicopter lifted off from the summit venue in the Canadian Rockies to take him to his plane, shortly after he warned residents to evacuate the Iranian capital Tehran.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump had made an offer for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

Trump had earlier urged everyone to immediately evacuate Tehran and reiterated that Iran should have signed a nuclear deal with the United States.

"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," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X.

The G7 has struggled to find unity over conflicts in Ukraine and between Israel and Iran as Trump overtly expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and has imposed tariffs on many of the allies present.

A US official said Trump would not sign a draft statement calling for de-escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict.

Still, Macron said Trump's departure was positive, given the objective to get a ceasefire.

"There is indeed an offer to meet and exchange. An offer was made especially to get a ceasefire and to then kick-start broader discussions," Macron told reporters.

"We have to see now whether the sides will follow."

G7 leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the U.S., along with the European Union, had convened in the resort area of Kananaskis in the Canadian Rockies until Tuesday.

Speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier, Trump said the former Group of Eight had been wrong to kick out Russia in 2014 after it annexed Crimea.

"This was a big mistake," Trump said, adding he believed Russia would not have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Putin not been ejected.

"Putin speaks to me. He doesn't speak to anybody else ... he's 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," Trump said.

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