The news is about to be flooded with the latest from the Group of Seven as some of the world's most powerful leaders travel to the Canadian Rockies next week for high-level meetings on major issues.

As G7 leaders converge on Kananaskis in the Canadian Rockies this weekend, the prospect of decisively tougher sanctions on Russia will loom large.

Potential wildcard: After his visit to the White House on June 5, Merz sees himself as the leader in Europe who has the best connection to Trump. But France’s Emmanuel Macron speaks to the U.S. leader regular and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni has her own rapport with him. So Merz may find that he’s not necessarily first in line.

BERLIN (Reuters) -The upcoming Group of Seven (G7) meeting in Canada will be about the extent to which the EU and U.S. align on sanctions against Russia, a German government official said on Thursday.

Lee Jae-myung’s attendance at the meeting of major powers will be the new president’s first overseas trip since taking office.

For its seventh G7 Summit as host country, Canada intends to assert its renewed leadership. Prime Minister Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, is focusing on three priorities: global security, digital transition and new economic alliances.

DUBAI (Reuters) -Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's crown prince and de facto leader, will not attend next week's Group of Seven summit in Canada, a senior diplomat briefed on plans told Reuters on Thursday. The crown prince, widely known as MBS, did not give a reason for declining Canada's invitation to the annual gathering, the diplomat said.

Japan's chief tariff negotiator Akazawa Ryosei has held a fresh round of talks with top US administration officials. Akazawa says he sought the possibility of reaching a mutually beneficial agreement.

Japan and the US held another round of trade talks in Washington as officials try to reach an agreement ahead of a Group of Seven summit in Canada and a meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Political leaders will gather in Kananaskis from June 15 to 17, marking a half-century of international co-operation among some of the world’s most-advanced economies.