Sawt Falasteen - G7 leaders applaud Iran 'opportunity', host AI chiefs

The three-day meeting of the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States has focused intensely on US President Donald Trump's deal to end the war with Iran and efforts to pressure Russia into brokering peace with Ukraine.

France, whose President Emmanuel Macron is chairing the G7, published a communique overnight that said all the leaders had agreed on key geopolitical issues.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this was the first such joint statement agreed during Trump's second mandate.

"It was tough work but worth it," he said, describing the statement as a "success".

Trump's memorandum of understanding with Iran, to be signed in Switzerland on Friday, "provides an historic opportunity to prevent Iran from acquiring any nuclear weapon and tackling the threats related to its regional and ballistic activities", it said.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking before the third day got underway, said the mooted deal "could be a game-changer".

As well as increasing supplies of air defence equipment to Ukraine four years into the war launched by Russia, the leaders agreed to "increase the pressure on the Russian war economy" by strengthening sanctions, including on Moscow's fossil fuel revenues.

"We consider this the right moment to proceed with additional measures" now that the Strait of Hormuz, a key passage of Gulf oil and gas, is set to reopen in the wake of Trump's Iran deal, the statement said.

Carney said he had noted a US "change in tone with respect to Ukraine", with Trump taking a harder line against Moscow and showing impatience over the casualty toll on both sides.

G7 leaders also agreed to grant licences for Ukraine-based companies to produce long-range missiles and air defence systems, a diplomatic source said.

- 'Whatever it takes' -

At a lunch on Wednesday the digital sphere took centre stage, with some European G7 members pushing for more security to protect minors in a fast-changing world, moves that have irked the United States.

Sam Altman, head of artificial intelligence giant OpenAI, Anthropic chief Dario Amodei, the founder of Google's AI lab DeepMind Demis Hassabis, and Arthur Mensch of their European rival Mistral AI were all attending.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday that children under 16 would be banned from using social media in the country, with France also eyeing a similar measure.

"So my message to tech bosses is clear: work with us to keep kids safe or I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen," Starmer said.

- 'I'm the boss' -

Trump has been the centre of attention throughout his stay at the summit in the lakeside resort of Evian.

French officials will be satisfied that the mercurial US president has stayed for the entire event and signed on to the G7 communique -- in contrast to the previous gathering in Canada, where he left early.

In an unusual gesture, Macron has invited Trump to dinner at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris after the summit winds down on Wednesday afternoon.

Trump said Tuesday that he had accepted Macron's offer of dinner because the palace of King Louis XIV was "not gold leaf" but the "real deal".

Macron, under pressure to show he is not fawning over Trump, has already said the evening at Versailles will not be a "gala" dinner.

Yet it promises to be a relatively regal affair with dozens of guests set to attend the dinner inside the palace -- preceded by a concert and followed by a fireworks display -- before Trump flies back to the United States.

Trump emphasised that the Iran agreement was only a memorandum of understanding and said he was ready to resume military action if Tehran did not abide by its obligations.

While Macron was formally chairing the summit, the US president made clear who he believed was in charge as he arrived for the third and final day.

"I'm the boss," Trump said before taking his seat.

W.Mansour--SF-PST