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International

Macron shook up the G7 with his fancy diplomatic footwork

12:15, Tuesday, 27 August, 2019
Macron shook up the G7 with his fancy diplomatic footwork

From the moment French President Emmanuel Macron tore up the G7 road map by canceling the joint communique, he transformed the gathering of the world's seven largest advanced democracies.

His tactic opened the door to a weekend of head-snapping spin and surprise, not least that President Trump stayed, smiling and handshaking with the host until the very end.
     It was a sharp contrast to Trump's storming out early at the last G7 and testimony to Macron's fleet-footed diplomacy.
     To some at the White House, Macron's motives appeared more ruthless. They complained the G7 agenda favored Macron, not Trump, leaving the US President little time to tout his own self-perceived economic prowess.
     Without the communique, which is often a largely pre-agreed end point to the summit's race through global crisis, only he, Macron, would know the route, allowing him to plan a few surprises along the way, which he did, seemingly to perfection.
     On Sunday, enter Iran's Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, at Macron's invite, an arrival almost without precedent at such events. And so the chaos began.

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