WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump met Friday with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, with the talks partly focused on the future of a North American free trade deal.
The leaders met in Washington on the sidelines of the draw for the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.
“The three leaders met for approximately 45 minutes,” Carney spokesperson Audrey Champoux said in an email.
“They’ve agreed to keep working together on CUSMA,” she added, using the Canadian acronym for the existing free trade deal between the three countries, which Americans call the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement .
The USMCA deal was struck during Trump’s first term.
Trump has slapped steep tariffs on exports from Canada and Mexico that do not fall under the USMCA, which Washington is seeking to renegotiate next year.
Friday’s talks were the first between Trump and Sheinbaum.
Carney has visited the White House twice since Trump’s return to power, but it will be his first encounter with Trump — except for a brief meeting at a summit in South Korea — since the US leader suspended trade talks in a bizarre row over an anti-tariff ad.
Trump has also threatened further punishment if they fail to curb cross-border migration and drug trafficking — and irked Sheinbaum by saying he would be “OK” with air strikes on Mexico to tackle traffickers.
She has vowed the strikes will never happen.
Canada also was outraged by Trump’s calls earlier this year for it to become the 51st US state.
Carney drew criticism at recent G20 meetings in South Africa when, asked by a reporter when he last spoke to Trump, answered, “Who cares?“
The three countries launched their joint World Cup bid in 2017 during Trump’s first term in the White House.
Trump said Friday that the United States had worked closely with Mexico and Canada over the tournament, adding “the coordination and friendship and relationship has been outstanding.”
Trump talks trade with Canada, Mexico leaders at World Cup draw
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Trump talks trade with Canada, Mexico leaders at World Cup draw
- Friday’s talks were the first between Trump and Sheinbaum
Russian ambassador slams EU frozen assets plan for Ukraine
BERLIN: A European Union plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s fight against Russia would have “far-reaching consequences” for the EU, Moscow’s ambassador to Germany warned on Friday.
His statement came as EU leaders seek more ways to keep Ukraine afloat as it faces increasing pressure on the battlefield.
“Any operation with sovereign Russian assets without Russia’s consent constitutes theft,” Sergey Nechaev said in a statement sent to AFP.
“It is also clear that the theft of Russian state funds will have far-reaching consequences,” the statement added.
The EU on Wednesday laid out a plan to use frozen Russian assets to help fund Ukraine with 90 billion euros over the next two years, despite opposition from Belgium, where the bulk of the assets are held.
But Nechaev said the “unprecedented step” could “destroy the business reputation of the European Union and plunge European governments into endless lawsuits.”
“In reality, it is a path to legal anarchy and the destruction of the foundations of the global financial system, which will primarily strike the European Union,” he said.
“We are confident that this is understood in Brussels and Berlin.”
‘Constructive exchange’: Merz
European leaders are looking for fresh options as US President Donald Trump looks to end the war on terms they see as unfavorable to Kyiv.
They are seeking ways to fund a loan to Kyiv which, under the proposal, would be paid back by any eventual Russian reparations to Ukraine.
But Belgium, home to international deposit organization Euroclear — which holds most of the Russian assets — has so far rejected the proposal because of potential legal repercussions.
Nechaev said the plan showed that Europe did not have the “considerable resources” required to keep supporting Ukraine.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on Friday to discuss the proposal.
In a statement after the meeting, Merz said it had been a “very constructive exchange.”
“Belgium’s particular concern about the question of utilising frozen Russian assets is undeniable and must be addressed in any conceivable solution in such a way that all European states bear the same risk,” he said.
The leaders agreed “to continue their discussions with the aim of finding a common solution” by their next summit on December 18 and 19, said Merz’s spokesman Stefan Kornelius.
