US wants no G7 Russia antagonism as allies fear blockage

By John Irish and Daphne Psaledakis

MONTREAL/JEDDAH (Reuters) - The U.S. opposes language that could harm its efforts to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday, as Washington wrangled with G7 allies ahead of a meeting this week, further alarming them.

The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven major democracies - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States - will meet in the river resort of La Malbaie, Quebec on March 12-14 for the first time since President Donald Trump returned to power in January.

While the G7 meetings have been consensual since Russia's membership was suspended in March 2014 in response to its annexation of Crimea, underscoring their steadfast backing for Ukraine, Trump has upended Western unity by drawing the U.S. closer to Moscow while heaping criticism on Kyiv.

According to four G7 diplomats, Canada had initially hoped the seven would agree on an overall statement ranging from the war in Ukraine to the Middle East and China and a second declaration that would outline the G7's efforts to curb Russia's so-called shadow fleet.

Shadow fleet refers to vessels used by Russia to move oil, arms and grains around in violation of international sanctions imposed on it over the Ukraine war. The vessels are not regulated or insured by conventional Western providers.

Almost two pages out of eight in the last G7 statement in November were focused entirely on Ukraine, mostly taking aim at Russia.

However, the diplomats said agreement on the full communique this time was proving very difficult, with some fearing that a compromise may not be found.

Two diplomats said the United States was seeking to remove references to sanctions and Russia's war in Ukraine, while demanding tougher language on China.

Speaking to reporters en route to Saudi Arabia for talks with Ukrainian officials, Rubio said there are always sticking points, adding that Washington cannot sign off on anything that could impede bringing Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table.

"We feel like antagonistic language sometimes makes it harder to bring parties to the table, especially since we're the only ones right now that seem to be in a position to make talks like that possible," he said.

He said he was "certain" they would eventually arrive at a document that was meaningful and unifying without "undermining our ability to bring both sides to the table."

Three diplomats said the United States also opposed a separate statement on Russia's shadow fleet.

Washington has already broken with allies at the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation at the end of February, refusing to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"The best case scenario is two statements. Plan B is one statement. But the Americans are blocking the maritime statement, so it's not easy. Even what the Canadians thought was going to be easy is not in fact easy," said one G7 diplomat.

The diplomats cautioned that talks were still ongoing to try to find a compromise.

(Writing by John Irish; Editing by Richard Chang)