Canada rallies against Russian 'aggression' as new US tone splits G7

Host Canada called Thursday on the Group of Seven powers to back Ukraine against Russia's "aggression" as a more conciliatory approach toward Moscow by Donald Trump's United States split the club of wealthy democracies.

Canada, the current G7 president, is gathering foreign ministers for three days of talks inside a rustic hotel in snow-dusted Charlevoix, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec.

Once broadly unified, the G7 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- has been rattled since the return of Trump, who has reached out to Russia and slapped punishing trade tariffs on close allies and competitors alike.

Before the full talks, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly met separately with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the highest-level US official to visit since the inauguration of Trump who has taunted the United States' northern neighbor as the "51st state."

Canada put its maple-leaf flag next to the US Stars and Stripes in a meeting room where Joly and Rubio exchanged French-style pecks on the cheek and shook hands. They did not respond to questions.

Joly, opening the formal session of the G7, said she hoped to find ways to "continue to support Ukraine in the face of Russia's illegal aggression."

"We all want to see just and lasting peace in Ukraine," she said.

Rubio has called for the G7 to avoid "antagonistic" language toward Russia, saying it would hinder diplomacy that could end the war that has killed tens of thousands of people.

Since Trump took over from Joe Biden, US statements often speak of the "Russia-Ukraine conflict" rather than the previous nomenclature of Russia's "invasion" of its neighbor in 2022.

Rubio took a circuitous route to Canada from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, where he met Ukrainian officials, who agreed to a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday voiced broad support for a ceasefire but suggested he wanted to speak to Trump about it.