Top diplomats from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies are converging on southern Ontario as tensions rise between the U.S. and traditional allies like Canada over defense spending, trade and uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan in Gaza and efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said in an interview with The Associated Press that “the relationship has to continue across a range of issues” despite trade pressures as she prepared to host U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and their counterparts from Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Anand also invited the foreign ministers of Australia, Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, South Korea, South Africa and Ukraine.
Anand said critical priorities of discussion Tuesday night include talks on advancing long-term peace and stability in the Middle East.
“The peace plan must be upheld,” Anand said.
The diplomats will meet with Ukraine’s foreign minister early Wednesday. Britain says it will send about $17 million to help patch up Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches. The money will go towards repairs to power, heating and water supplies and humanitarian support for Ukrainians.
Here are more headlines from the Trump administration on Tuesday:
Visas: A new directive by the Trump administration could make it more difficult for foreigners to visit or live in the United States if they have certain medical conditions such as diabetes or obesity or lack the economic resources and assets to support themselves. The guidance, issued last week in a cable from the State Department and obtained by The Associated Press, directs embassy and consular officials to comprehensively and thoroughly vet visa applicants to demonstrate that they will not need to rely on public benefits from the government any time after their admission in the U.S.
Lawsuit: Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out a jury’s finding in a civil lawsuit that he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll at a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her. A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said in a statement the Supreme Court appeal was part of the president’s crusade against “Liberal Lawfare.”
NFL: The president called into ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show and predicted that, with college football teams offering top recruits big money to play for them, “You got to have like NFL-type payroll” levels to compete. He said that “colleges don’t make that much money.” Trump suggested a salary cap like the NFL and other leagues have would help, and added of college sports, “Bad things are going to happen unless they figure this out.”
—From Associated Press and wire reports
