Canada’s Carney visits France to seek ‘reliable’ allies amid US disputes

As relations with the United States have deteriorated, Canada’s new prime minister, President Emmanuel Macron, and his French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron, have met for the first time in their official overseas meetings.

Carney argued at a joint press conference held on Monday at the Elysee Palace in Paris that it was crucial for Canada to “reinforce its ties with trustworthy allies like France.”

“I want to make sure that France, and the rest of Europe, work cooperatively with Canada, which is the most European of non-European nations, and that, at the same time, North American, determined, like you, to maintain the best relations possible with the United States,” Carney said.

His visit comes as a result of Donald Trump’s increasing tariffs on Canadian goods, which are already in high demand. Canada has imposed its own tariffs in response.

Canadians are infuriated by Trump’s repeated threats to annex the nation and make it the country’s 51st state. As did his predecessor, incoming prime minister Justin Trudeau, who had previously assumed the leadership of the country, Carney unwaveringly declared that this would never occur.

Trump’s attacks on Canada were not addressed by Macron, but he claimed that tariffs only led to inflation.

We want to be able to develop our most important projects with our closest, more devoted partners in the current international environment, Macron said, adding that we are stronger as a team to ensure the protection of our interests and the full exercise of our sovereignty.

The decision to travel to France and the UK for his first overseas trip is highly symbolic, according to Natacha Butler, a reporter for Al Jazeera from Paris. Prime ministers of Canada typically travel to Washington first. Although Donald Trump was undoubtedly not mentioned, these two leaders, who are currently wagering a tariffs [war] on both Canada and France and upending traditional alliances, were very interested in him.

The “peaceful powers”

In the course of US-backed ongoing ceasefire negotiations, Macron and Carney both pledged their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Macron claimed that France and Canada were two “peaceful nations” who would continue to support Kyiv and “continue to demand clear commitments from Russia” in order to bring about lasting peace and ensure “the security of the entire of Europe.”

Two days prior, Carney and Macron attended a video conference that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer planned on Saturday that listed nations that supported Ukraine and would consider joining a “coalition of the willing” to fortify any peace agreement on the ground.

According to an unnamed government official, the Canadian leader has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Group of Seven (G7) countries summit in Alberta in June, according to an AFP news agency.

Later on Monday, Carney, who took over as prime minister last week, will meet with King Charles III of Great Britain and Canada’s King Starmer.