US Vetoes G-7 Shadow Fleet Task Force Plan, Signals More Change

(Bloomberg) — The US has rejected a Canadian proposal to establish a task force that would tackle Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers, as the Trump administration re-evaluates its positions across multilateral organizations, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Canada, which holds this year’s revolving G-7 presidency, will host a summit of foreign ministers in Charlevoix, Québec, next week. In negotiations to formulate a joint statement on maritime issues, the US is pushing to strengthen language around China while watering down wording on Russia, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters that aren’t public. 

The term “shadow fleet” is used to refer to aging oil tankers concealed to overcome Western sanctions imposed on Moscow since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 

As well as vetoing Canada’s proposal to establish a task force to monitor for sanction breaches, the draft G-7 statement seen by Bloomberg News shows the US pushed to remove the word “sanctions,” as well as wording citing Russia’s “ability to maintain its war” in Ukraine by replacing it with “earn revenue.” 

In wording around sea safety and security, the US pushed to name China directly, including by referencing the risk to “lives and livelihoods” caused by its moves to “enforce unlawful maritime claims,” its aerial maneuvers, and the South China Sea specifically. 

G-7 communiques aren’t final until they’re published through consensus, and negotiations could still yield significant changes before or during the summit.

Still, relations between the US and other Western powers have frayed significantly. Last month, for example, allies were unable to publish a joint statement to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — something they’d done the previous two years — after the US opposed strong condemnation of Russia.

Washington is also pushing back against references to maritime sustainability, the people added, as well as efforts to create a maritime observatory to track boundary changes. That’s a key issue in maritime conflicts globally, including in the South China Sea.

US diplomats have briefed their counterparts that the move was due to Washington’s re-evaluation of its position in multilateral organizations, rendering it unable to join any new initiatives, the people said.

A spokesperson for Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly declined to comment on ongoing negotiations. Spokespeople for the US State Department didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. 

President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House has upended decades-long norms of foreign policy in just a month and a half, prompting allies to seek to establish their own security guarantees. European leaders gathered in Brussels for an emergency summit this week with a view to massively increase defense spending, as the future of US participation in alliances including NATO hangs in the balance. 

In a sign of Trump’s impact on traditional US allies’ foreign policy, a separate draft of the main communique, also seen by Bloomberg, shows any mention of Russian aggression has vanished, welcoming instead “all efforts” to agree to a ceasefire.

–With assistance from María Paula Mijares Torres.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com