German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday she expected “contentious discussions” at a G7 summit this week, given differences with US President Donald Trump on trade, climate and security.
Speaking two days before the Canada meeting of the club of major industrialised democracies, Merkel also said the leaders may not necessarily manage to agree on a final joint statement.
“I think everyone knows there will be difficult discussions there, because G7 summits deal with the global economy, trade, climate protection, development- and foreign policy,” she told German parliament.
Trump’s decisions to quit the Paris climate and Iran nuclear deals and impose sweeping steel and aluminium tariffs showed that “we have a serious problem with multilateral agreements, and that’s why there will be contentious discussions”, she said.