At this year’s G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, something curious happened — or rather, didn’t happen.
Leaders from the world’s richest nations gathered, posed for the cameras, held closed-door meetings, and made the usual high-level noises. But when it came time to deliver a unified message on the Ukraine conflict, the silence was deafening. No joint statement. No fiery condemnation of Russia. Just… a polite shrug.
Why? Because Washington said “not like that.”
According to CBC and other Canadian outlets, the real reason for the missing statement was the United States. Anonymous sources close to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office spilled the beans: Washington didn’t want to sign off on any language that might poke the Russian bear too hard — especially not with back-channel peace negotiations in the mix.
Apparently, the proposed wording was just too spicy. Anything explicitly naming or blaming Russia could derail the diplomatic efforts being quietly brokered behind the scenes. So the U.S. pushed for a more “neutral” tone — one so watered down that the idea of a joint statement was reportedly scrapped altogether.
Oddly enough, the Canadian PM’s office later tried to walk it back. Spokesperson Emily Williams claimed there wasn’t any proposed joint statement to begin with. She said all the important messaging about Ukraine was already baked into the final Chair’s Summary, which, for the record, didn’t say much. It vaguely praised Trump’s peace efforts (yes, you read that right) and called for an “unconditional ceasefire” — a demand Russia has repeatedly dismissed as a strategic pause for Ukraine to regroup.
Zelensky was there too — but Trump wasn’t interested.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky showed up to the summit hoping for strong words and stronger wallets. He’s still pitching his $40 billion-a-year ask to keep Ukraine “resilient.” But if he expected a headline-making show of solidarity, he didn’t get it. Trump ducked out early and didn’t even bother meeting with him.
Meanwhile, Mark Carney tried to keep the G7’s image polished. In his closing remarks, he said the group is still committed to “maximizing pressure on Russia” — including more sanctions. But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov wasn’t impressed. He brushed the whole summit off as “rather unremarkable and meaningless.”
In a world where politicians trade in optics as much as policy, that kind of quiet omission speaks volumes. The message may not be in the press release — but it’s loud and clear between the lines.
