The fresh air of Canada’s Rocky Mountains clears the head. It’ll need to.
Here, the village of Kananaskis (population circa 130) finds itself, temporarily, the diplo-centre of the world – hosting diplomacy of the difficult kind.
If this isn’t quite a crisis meeting, it’s a meeting amidst a crisis. The Israel-Iran conflict is front and centre of the G7 agenda and key players have come here talking about de-escalation.
If they’re speaking with a single voice at the start, don’t hold your breath for a single strategy by the end.
The G7 starring Donald Trump is a different movie – this isn’t a gathering built necessarily on the shared understanding and common purpose that has, generally, defined the annual team meeting of the world’s leading democracies.
Here, an abrasive US president will schmooze leaders he’s screwing on trade, undermining on defence priorities and, generally, putting at a distance.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa – both veterans of the Oval Office hairdryer treatment – are the special guests filed under specially awkward. (Skynews)