Washington: United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed French President Emmaneul Macron’s claim that he left G7 Summit in Canada for Washington DC to work on a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Trump said his departure had nothing to do with the ceasefire.
Trump said he was working on something ‘much bigger’ than a ceasefire and derided the French president as ‘publicity seeking.’ He dramatically left the G7 Summit in Canada a day early to rush back to Washington. Macron had claimed that the US leader was considering the prospect of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
“There is indeed an offer to meet and exchange. An offer was made especially to get a ceasefire and to then kickstart broader discussions,” Macron told reporters at the G7. “We have to see now whether the sides will follow,” he had added, describing the move as a positive development. “Right now I believe negotiations need to restart and that civilians reed to protected,” Macron said.
Trump had decided to fly to Washington to brief his national security council. He seemed to have skipped the summit to apparently avoid a day in which he would have been pressed over Ukraine and trade by his G7 colleagues, experts opined.
Recently, several Gulf states attempted to mediate between the US and Iran in an attempt to secure a ceasefire and restart nuclear talks that were cancelled by Iran after the surprise attack mounted by Israel.
On Monday, the Israel military had called for 330,000 residents of a neighbourhood in Tehran city centre to evacuate. They were warned of the imminent bombing of “military infrastructure” in the area in a social media post. In a social media post, Trump had also called on Iranians to evacuate the capital more generally. This hinted that the president was not putting any brakes on the Israeli government.
