G7 Summit Closes: ‘U.S. absence’ Reveals Group’s Fragility

Editorial

15:04 JST, June 19, 2025

This was a summit that symbolically indicated that an era in which the United States led the international order ended and the world is shifting to an extremely dangerous time.

The summit of Group of Seven advanced nations, held in Canada, has ended. This year marked the 50th anniversary since the first summit, at which the leaders of six countries — Japan, the United States and European nations — met in 1975. But the leaders at this year’s summit failed to adopt a comprehensive leaders’ statement. It was the first time in the history of G7 summits.

The direct cause of the unusual turn of events was U.S. President Donald Trump. He had opposed the adoption of the leaders’ statement and abruptly returned to the United States after the first day of discussions.

The G7 nations have maintained unity by sharing values such as democracy and the rule of law. However, Trump touts an “America First” policy and turns his back on international cooperation. It can be said that the G7 nations have been transformed into a structure of “the United States plus the group of six.”

Although the influence of the United States is decreasing, the reality that the G7 framework cannot function without the United States has also become obvious.

The situation in Ukraine, which should have been one of the main topics on the agenda, was not sufficiently discussed due to Trump returning to the United States, resulting in the G7 nations not adopting a joint statement on additional sanctions against Russia.

Despite the extremely tense situation in the Middle East, with Israel bombing Iran just before the opening of the summit, it must be noted that the response of the G7 nations to the situation was far too inadequate.

There is no doubt that Iran’s continued nuclear development is the root cause of the current crisis. However, in a joint statement, the G7 nations did not criticize Israel’s military actions. It is obvious the G7 nations are much too biased in favor of Israel.

Before the start of the summit, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said, “[Israel’s military actions are] absolutely unacceptable and I strongly condemn them.” Despite this, there are no signs that he asserted this point at the summit.

With the debate among the United States, Canada and the European nations being dominated by support for Israel, it is unsatisfying that, as the only Asian country to participate in the summit, Japan failed to take advantage of the opportunity to throw a wrench into the discussions.

Trump is trying to promote his own response, rather than work within the framework of the G7 nations. He is pressing Iran for an “unconditional surrender,” and some observers believe that he may step in to intervene militarily at Israel’s request.

The era of the G7 nations being able to exert their influence by touting their ideals is over. In the face of a deepening crisis, to what specific extent will the behavior of Israel and the United States be tolerated? Europe and Japan are being forced to make tough decisions.

Nevertheless, at the very least, the G7 nations should be able to agree on respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity and refusing to allow the status quo to be changed by force. The G7 nations must return to these principles and focus on stopping warfare.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 19, 2025)