Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday rejected aid from G7 countries to fight wildfires in the Amazon, after the seven leaders concluded their summit on Monday in France's seaside town of Biarritz with a pledge of more than $20 million to combat the horrendous fires.
The leaders of France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States made the aid offer to fight the blazes at the weekend summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron insisted the fires should be a top item on their agenda.
Macron and Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, who was invited to the summit, announced the contribution on Monday. "We must respond to the call of the forest which is burning today in the Amazon," said Macron.
He said the G7 nations also agreed to support a medium-term reforestation plan.
But Onyx Lorenzoni, chief of staff to Bolsonaro told Macron to take care of "his home and his colonies", according to the G1 Globo news website.
"We appreciate (the aid offer), but maybe those resources are more relevant to reforest Europe," he said.
"Macron cannot even avoid a foreseeable fire in a church that is a world heritage site," he added, referring to the fire in April that devastated the Notre Dame Cathedral. "What does he intend to teach our country?"
Brazilian environment Minister Ricardo Salles had earlier told reporters they had welcomed the G7 funding to fight the fires that have swept across 950,000 hectares and prompted the deployment of the army.
Macron has threatened to block the new trade deal between the European Union and several South American countries reached in June unless Bolsonaro takes serious steps to protect the Amazon.
On Twitter, Bolsonaro described the G7 plan as an attack on his country's sovereignty.
Absence of Trump
On Monday morning, US President Donald Trump was the only G7 leader that did not show up at a G7 session on climate, oceans and biodiversity. At the afternoon news conference, Trump called himself an environmentalist. He said his absence was due to his bilateral meetings with leaders from Germany and India. But both Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the environment session.
Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord has been regarded as a major setback for the global cause.
Iran also became a major subject of the G7 summit. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made a surprise visit to Biarritz to meet Macron, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and British and German officials.
At the news conference on Monday, Macron said he had informed Trump of his plan to invite Zarif for the visit.
Trump said he is open to meeting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani under the right circumstances. Tensions between the US and Iran have escalated after Trump pulled the US out from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran.
Rouhani said on Tuesday that a meeting with Trump would be just a photo op and "that is not possible", adding that the US president first must lift sanctions imposed on Teheran.
China, Russia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Iran have all hoped to salvage the deal.
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