Canada FM says G7 ministers will meet again this year

Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand says she and her Group of Seven counterparts plan to meet again in Canada this year to discuss Ukraine.

Anand sat down with NHK for an exclusive interview in Tokyo on Wednesday. Canada is the current G7 chair.

She said the details of the G7 foreign ministerial meeting are being finalized. She also said the ministers should be ensuring that "the principle of territorial integrity, the principle of sovereignty is one that Ukraine is allowed to make on its own."

Anand said the meeting will follow the gathering of G7 foreign ministers she hosted in The Hague during the NATO summit two weeks ago.

The G7 leaders summit in June ended without a joint statement on Ukraine.

Canada appears willing to take up the Ukraine issue at a G7 foreign ministerial meeting.

On US President Donald Trump's tariff measures, Anand said Canada's steel and aluminum sector as well as auto industry are being hit. She said Canadian businesses, workers and families are feeling the "visceral effect" of the tariffs on their daily lives.

The minister said Canada's teams are working to reach agreement with the US by the July 21 deadline.

Anand reacted sharply to Trump's suggestion that her country should become a US state, saying: "Canada will never be the 51st state. Period."