Joly ends foreign ministers’ meeting in Quebec with ‘strong G7 unity’ on Ukraine

LA MALBAIE, Que. — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Friday that G7 countries are unified in their support for Ukraine, as she and her peers endorsed a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war and called for a “political horizon” for Palestinians.

“We were able to find strong G7 unity on a variety of issues,” Joly told reporters Friday morning as the gathering of Group of Seven foreign ministers was winding down in the Charlevoix region of Quebec.

The meeting took place against a backdrop of turbulence at home and abroad — with Prime Minister Mark Carney poised to launch what promises to be a hard-fought election campaign and U.S. President Donald Trump pursuing a trade war against much of the world.

The G7 includes the U.S., Canada, European nations and Japan — countries that are alarmed by the rising influence of Beijing and Moscow and by Trump’s unconventional foreign policy proposals and coercive trade policies.

Joly said the ministers were able to focus on shared concerns and hold frank exchanges about the world’s problems.

“The goal was to keep strong G7 unity,” she said.

Joly used Canada’s G7 presidency to advance maritime security initiatives, arguing that all three oceans bordering Canada should have freely navigable waters free of undetected ships that evade sanctions or commit illegal fishing.

Those issues likely will be explored further when Canada welcomes G7 heads of government for a summit currently planned for June in Kananaskis, Alta.

The joint G7 statement released Friday morning backed a ceasefire negotiated by the U.S. with Ukrainian support, which would compel Russia to halt its land, air and sea attacks. Moscow has called for changes to the proposal that G7 countries are rejecting.

“Ultimately, the ball is now in Russia’s court when it comes to Ukraine,” Joly told reporters.

Friday’s joint statement suggests Russia won’t get off scot-free if it doesn’t accept and “fully” implement the agreement.

“We discussed imposing further costs on Russia in case such a ceasefire is not agreed, including through further sanctions, caps on oil prices, as well as additional support for Ukraine,” says the statement, which also cites the possibility of using revenues generated from frozen Russian assets.

It was widely reported that Washington had vetoed a Canadian proposal for the G7 meeting aimed at cracking down on Russian “shadow fleet” oil tankers that are evading Western economic sanctions.

A Canadian government official who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed these media reports for The Canadian Press.

Europe’s G7 members — the U.K., France, Germany, Italy and the European Union — praised what they called strong language in the statement.

Canada has made Ukraine its top priority for the G7 presidency, arguing that allowing Russia to grab territory undermines the global order that supports peace.

Germany’s Ambassador to Canada Tjorven Bellmann cited the work of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in crafting the ceasefire proposal shortly before he flew to Quebec.

“The Ukraine discussion was very sincere and very constructive,” Bellmann said of the G7 talks.

“It’s really up to the Russians now to agree to this proposal without new conditions, and we’ll all wait to see whether that’s going to happen.”

Rubio told reporters he is “cautiously optimistic” about peace in Ukraine, noting that while there is “positive momentum,” the deal requires both sides to stick to their words.

He said the G7 is about finding common ground. “We’re not going to allow the things we disagree on … to keep us from working closely on the things we agree on,” Rubio said.

The leaders’ statement also “underscored the imperative of a political horizon for the Palestinian people” — language that stopped short of endorsing Palestinian statehood and fell short of previous G7 statements that called specifically for a two-state solution.

Still, the statement attracted notice from analysts who have been tracking Washington’s strong support for Israel.

“Israelis and Palestinians can only live side by side if we respect their right to self-determination,” Joly said, arguing the first step is getting to the next phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The statement also found common ground on wars in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as Chinese activity in the South China Sea.

Joly also said that in individual meetings with her counterparts, she raised Ottawa’s belief that the U.S. is trying to annex Canada through economic coercion and discussed expanding trade outside North America.

“We want to be closer to Europe, we want to be closer to Britain,” she said. “When it comes to the threats coming out of the White House regarding tariffs, we need to diversify our economy.”

Joly said these concerns didn’t overwhelm the G7 discussions and argued that Rubio’s attendance sent a message that Canada’s sovereignty is not on the table.

Rubio said concerns about Trump’s talk of annexing Canada only came up in his bilateral discussion with Joly, though he said his G7 peers did discuss U.S. tariffs, which he insists are about fairness.

“This is not meant to be hostile towards anybody. It is meant to be friendly and supportive of our … national interests as a country,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 14, 2025.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press