South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was welcomed by a delegation upon his arrival in Calgary for the Group of Seven (G7) summit.
This year’s G7 meeting is being held in the Canadian Rockies, with leaders of the world’s largest economies arriving on Sunday. The summit is set to take place in Kananaskis, at a resort nestled among mountains and forests.
However, the gathering is being overshadowed by mounting global tensions notably the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as well as U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing trade disputes with both allies and adversaries.
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The ongoing war in Ukraine is also high on the agenda. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to attend and is expected to meet President Trump a reunion that comes just months after their contentious Oval Office meeting, which highlighted the potential pitfalls of engaging directly with the U.S. president.
On the margins of the summit, Ramaphosa is also expected to hold a bilateral meeting with President Trump. It will be their first direct engagement since a controversial White House encounter in May, during which Trump reportedly raised unfounded claims of a “genocide” against white South Africans a topic that drew widespread criticism at the time.
