Many non-governmental organizations say they step in to support these areas in La Guajira where state assistance is minimal or entirely absent. Colombia’s environment ministry did not respond to AP’s requests for comment.
“The U.S. administration is having a somewhat different view of the situation,” Dombrovskis told reporters. He added that details about U.S. tariffs weren’t discussed because the G7 members are negotiating individually with the Trump administration about duties.On Ukraine, the communiqué condemned “Russia’s continued brutal war against Ukraine,” yet that language was milder than last year’s, which referred to Russia’s “illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked full-scale invasion.” Trump officials in the past have pushed to avoid antagonizing Russia while seeking peace talks.
Champagne, however, called the invasion “illegal” in Thursday’s news conference.Bessent also successfully included an agreement in the statement that “no country or entity” that supported Russia’s war efforts would be able to profit from Ukraine’s reconstruction, a restriction that would bar Chinese companies from participating.Dombrovskis said the EU had proposed to lower the current price cap on Russian oil — previously agreed to as part of early sanctions slapped on Russia in the wake of its 2022 invasion — to $50, from $60, but the communiqué says little about specific measures.
Still, the EU was largely satisfied with the G7’s agreements on Ukraine, Dombrovskis said, including the willingness to impose more sanctions. The group also agreed to continue freezing Russia’s financial assets until they can be used to help pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction.Mark Sobel, a former top Treasury Department official and senior adviser to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, criticized the communiqué as “feeble.”
The statement “closes its eyes to the elephants in the room -- the word ‘tariffs’ or a reference to destructive U.S. trade policies are nowhere to be found,” Sobel said.
“On Ukraine, the G7 will ‘explore options’ if a ceasefire isn’t reached when the time for action is now,” he added. “This risible communiqué cannot hide the fissures in the G7 and hardly bodes well for the larger fractures looming for the upcoming G7 leaders’ summit.”Turmoil has plagued the aid system launched this week by
, which runs three distribution centers in the territory. Israel has slated GHF to take over food distribution in Gaza despite opposition from the United Nations and most humanitarian groups.Over the past three days, there have been
, and Gaza health officials have said at least one person has been killed and dozens wounded.The Israeli military said it has facilitated the entry of nearly 1,000 truckloads of supplies into Gaza recently and accused the U.N. of failing to distribute the goods. It claimed Hamas was responsible for the crisis by stealing aid and refusing to release the remaining hostages.