German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday predicted difficult talks at the Group of Seven summit, warning that she won't accept conclusions on issues like trade that water down the group's previous statements.
The group of Western powers meets in Charlevoix, Quebec on Friday and Saturday amid growing tensions between the U.S. and its allies after Washington announced its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear agreement, and slapped steel and aluminum tariffs on its traditional partners.
"It is apparent that we have a serious problem with multilateral agreements here, and so there will be contentious discussions," Merkel said as she addressed her first question time in the German parliament, a format introduced by the governing coalition that took office in March.
She said Germany will work at least to preserve what was agreed at last year's G-7 and Group of 20 summits on trade and climate.
"I will go in with good will," Merkel said.
However, she added that "we must not keep watering down" previous summit conclusions committing the G-7 countries to fair multilateral trade and rejecting protectionism.
"There must not be a compromise simply for the sake of a compromise," she said. If an acceptable agreement can't be agreed, a "chairman's summary" by the Canadian hosts "is perhaps a more honest path — there is no sense in papering over divisions at will."
Merkel was asked by lawmakers from the nationalist Alternative for Germany, or AfD, and hard-left Left Party whether it wouldn't make sense to talk more with Russia. AfD lawmaker Michael Espendiller asked whether the G-8 format including Russia, which was thrown out after Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, should be revived.
Merkel responded that the G-7 is defined by its members' respect of international law and Russia's annexation of Crimea was a "flagrant breach" of that. She said Russia's removal was "unavoidable."
She also noted that Germany has sought to keep in frequent contact with Russia, but said "a format that is explicitly based on respecting international law is not viable for Russia at present."
German chancellors haven't previously interacted directly with lawmakers in the same way British prime ministers do at their weekly question time.
Merkel will now face questions three times a year, though some opposition lawmakers complain that the format is too inflexible.
At Wednesday's one-hour session, questions and answers were kept to a maximum of a minute each, and the calm but concentrated atmosphere was far from the bear pit of question time in London.
