Prime Minister Mark Carney says he’s hopeful the unsteady ceasefire between Iran and Israel will provide an “opportunity” for an end to hostilities in Gaza and ultimately broader Middle East peace, including a “Zionist” Palestinian state committed to Israel’s security.
In an interview with CNN International that aired Tuesday ahead of the NATO summit at The Hague, Carney said U.S. President Donald Trump “has the potential to be decisive” after he displayed “U.S. power” by bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities over the weekend.
That action and the resulting ceasefire announced by Trump on Monday, Carney said, “does create the possibility of moving forward” on stabilizing Gaza as well.
“Can there be a lasting peace in the Middle East without peace in Gaza, that takes into account Gaza and West Bank and effectively working on a path to a Palestinian state? I would agree with all of those,” he said.
“(Palestinians) living side by side in security with Israel — a Zionist, if you will, Palestinian state that recognizes the right of Israel not just to exist, but to prosper and not live in fear — we can’t have peace unless we move towards that.”
He added that “developments as we sit today and the potential trajectory with respect to Iran does create another window for that.”
Trump has not openly supported a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict since returning to office. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and key members of the Trump administration, including U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, have vocally dismissed the idea of a Palestinian state.
The U.S. State Department has referred all questions about whether U.S. foreign policy still supports a two-state solution to the White House and Trump.
Carney said an immediate ceasefire and “the full resumption of humanitarian aid” into Gaza must be accompanied by the return of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, “lest anyone think I’m not acknowledging this.”
He pointed to the joint statement issued by G7 leaders during their summit in Alberta last week that said a resolution to the Iranian conflict must lead to “a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza,” though his call for a Palestinian state went beyond that.
Carney angered Netanyahu and the Trump administration by issuing a joint statement with the leaders of France and the United Kingdom last month that warned of consequences for Israel if it did not resume humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza.
The prime minister said the Canadian soldiers stationed at the U.S. military base in Qatar that was attacked by Iran on Monday were able to get “out of harm’s way,” after Iran warned the U.S. and Qatar ahead of its retaliatory action.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
He added he “would lean toward President Trump’s interpretation” of Iran’s response as de-escalatory, which opened the window to the ceasefire agreement.
Carney, who spoke with Trump over the weekend as the Iran conflict unfolded, also sided with Trump in saying Iran’s nuclear program posed an imminent threat, despite U.S. intelligence claiming the regime had not yet restarted its weapons program.
“There was a fiction that they perpetrated that this was for only peaceful means,” he said.
“They were enriching uranium to a degree — they were hiding the facilities, or trying to hide the facilities — that was entirely not necessary for civilian use of nuclear technology. So I think the combination of that, the combination of their belligerence, the combination of their state sponsor of terrorism throughout the region, all of that points in one direction.”
Canada will meet NATO’s new 5% target, Carney says
Carney also said Canada is committed to meeting NATO’s new defence spending target of five per cent of GDP, which will be formally agreed to at this week’s summit.
Under the new 10-year plan, countries would spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on “core” defence — such as weapons and troops — and a further 1.5 per cent on security-related investments, such as adapting roads, ports and bridges for use by military vehicles, protecting pipelines and deterring cyberattacks.
Carney has already committed to hitting the previous target of two per cent this fiscal year, with over $9 billion in new investments.
Although he acknowledged that five per cent of Canada’s GDP equals about $150 billion, he said the language of the NATO agreement allows Canada to hit the new target through programs not explicitly related to defence.
“Canada has one of the biggest and most varied deposits of critical minerals, and we’re going to develop those,” Carney said.
“Some of the spending for that counts towards that five per cent. In fact, a lot of it will happen towards that five per cent because of infrastructure spending, ports and railroads and other ways to get these minerals. So that’s something that benefits the Canadian economy, but is also part of our new NATO responsibility.”
Carney said those investments, as well as partnerships on defence and trade with other allies like the one signed Monday with the European Union, will be “positive for the U.S. relationship” as well. He credited Trump for pushing NATO allies to “pay their fair share, carry their weight.”
“I think we are now doing that,” he said.
He also dismissed concerns that Canada turning to other allies will anger Trump or disrupt negotiations toward a new deal with the U.S.
“It’s a reaction, if you will, to what’s happening in the United States, but it’s not a reaction against the United States,” he said. “It’s for something, not against.”
Asked if Trump is still bringing up his oft-repeated call to annex Canada in their private discussions, Carney said, “He’s not.”
“He admires Canada, I think it’s fair to say, and maybe for a period of time coveted Canada,” he said.
“We’re two sovereign nations who are discussing the future of our trade relationships, our defense partnership, which has been very strong in the past. How is that going to evolve?”
Will Carney push Trump on Ukraine?
Asked if Carney will try to persuade Trump to maintain U.S. military support for Ukraine, Carney said, “Yes, absolutely.”
He also said he doesn’t believe the U.S. will fully “walk away” from Ukraine either.
“There’s other measures that can be taken,” he said, pointing to new sanctions imposed by Canada and Europe on Russia. A sanctions package has been introduced in the U.S. Senate by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, but Trump has yet to endorse it.
“If it is enacted, which is a choice, it will be a game changer,” Carney said.
However, he acknowledged that military support “is hugely important here — it is a war,” adding NATO won’t be able to fully make up the gaps in military support if U.S. aid stops.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended several sideline meetings Tuesday ahead of the official NATO leaders’ summit, which Zelenskyy was not invited to. He attended the G7 summit but was unable to meet with Trump, who left early for Washington to oversee the Iran-Israel conflict.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One he was hoping to meet with him in Brussels.