Canada and the European Union are turning commiseration and anxiety over their turbulent relationships with the United States under President Trump into a deepening bond.
On Monday, Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada joined a summit of European leaders in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, putting his country at the heart of some of Europe’s biggest priorities. He was the first non-European head of government to be invited to the gathering, known as the European Political Community summit.
Mr. Carney’s relentless pursuit of new, expanded alliances to lessen Canada’s dependence on the United States coming as Mr. Trump threatens to unravel decades of economic integration, has effectively led Canada to be welcomed as something of an honorary European Union member.
“Integration is being used as a weapon by some, and the rules are not constraining the hegemons,” Mr. Carney said on Monday at the Yerevan summit — hinting at, but not mentioning, the United States — in comments that echoed his landmark speech in Davos, Switzerland, in January.
In that speech, he described what he called a rupture in the postwar world order led by the United States and called on middle powers like Canada and its European partners to band together to form a new, stable global system within which they can work together.
“It’s my strong personal view that the international order will be rebuilt, but it will be rebuilt out of Europe,” Mr. Carney said in Yerevan on Monday.
European leaders appeared delighted that Mr. Carney made the long journey from Ottawa to Yerevan to spend a few hours with them.
“It is truly a case of, in such an unpredictable world, where friends are getting fewer and farther between, having Prime Minister Carney around this table not only matters to us and the citizens we represent, but I think also shows Canadians that we are willing to go further with a country that we could be very easily, much more integrated with,” Roberta Metsola, the president of the European Parliament, said in an interview with The New York Times.
The meeting in Yerevan took place against a backdrop of a string of bad news for Europe emanating from White House decisions.
Last week, Mr. Trump announced that he would order the withdrawal of 5,000 U.S. troops stationed in Germany, and, separately, that he would apply a 25 percent tariff on E.U. vehicles despite a trade agreement between the United States and the bloc.
The meeting in Yerevan brought together European Union leaders with other allies, including Ukraine and Britain, under the auspices of the European Political Community, a group created in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that meets twice a year.
“It’s the first ever time that we invite a non-European country to participate in the European Political Community,” António Costa, the president of the European Council, said in comments to the news media in Yerevan, “but we invited Canada because Canada is one of the closest countries in the world to Europe, it is the most like-minded country, and we share a certain vision of the world.”
“We need to keep calm and carry on with the United States,’’ he added. “But our trans-Atlantic relationship is not only with the United States.”
Mr. Carney last year negotiated to make Canada part of the European Union’s joint defense industry policy, a partnership that will allow Canadian companies to bid for E.U. procurement contracts.
Canada and the European Union are also negotiating a new, broader strategic partnership that will enhance trade and other areas of collaboration and is likely to be agreed upon this year.
Ms. Metsola said Canada would be a desirable source of energy and critical minerals for the European Union, as well as a partner in the bloc’s efforts to expand its own artificial intelligence companies.
On Monday Mr. Carney announced that Canada would contribute 270 million Canadian dollars, or about $200 million, to a NATO-led program to quickly provide Ukraine with urgently needed military provisions.
Asked about whether the U.S. troop withdrawal from Germany worried him, Mr. Carney was circumspect.
“Obviously it’s of interest and of some concern, speaking for myself, the potential adjustment in U.S. troop forces, but the details are less clear at this stage, and it has to be put against the backdrop of very, very, very considerable American resources, including personnel,” Mr. Carney said in Yerevan.
But, he added, the withdrawal should be seen as part of “a world where Canada, Europe, everybody in that room is taking more responsibility for collective defense.”
Mr. Carney is under pressure at home to show that his outreach to the European Union and other partners and his approach to the United States will make Canada economically stronger and more resilient.
While Canadians elected him a year ago to stand up to Mr. Trump, there is also broad consensus among voters that a new, stable trade deal with the United States is necessary to secure Canada’s economic future.
But one may not be available any time soon.
A renegotiation of the United States-Canada-Mexico free trade agreement is looming, and the early signs point to difficult talks with the Trump administration, which is demanding concessions from Canada before negotiations can even begin.
Mr. Carney has said he wants a good deal with the United States but that he won’t rush into making concessions just to get relief from some tariffs the United States has applied on key Canadian sectors such as autos, lumber, steel and aluminum.
On Monday, his government announced a 1.5 billion Canadian dollar aid package for industries hurt by U.S. tariffs. The financing will come in different forms, including loans on favorable terms for companies that are struggling because of the U.S. levies, according to a statement describing the new financial assistance.
Mr. Carney has also courted China, which he visited in January, to bolster Canada’s exports. Calling Beijing a “strategic partner,” Mr. Carney secured better trade terms for some Canadian agricultural exports that had been under crippling Chinese tariffs. In exchange, Canada removed most tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles exported to Canada under a quota.
The Trump administration has decried the electric vehicle agreement as dangerous for North America, and detrimental to the two nations’ free-trade talks.
Asked if he was worried that his Europe outreach and alignment with European Union position would trigger a similar reaction by the White House, Mr. Carney said he did not feel that bringing Canada closer to Europe was antagonizing the United States.
“We can do several things at the same time,” Mr. Carney said. “The Americans, for example, have signed several trade agreements in the last year, and it’s the same for Canada.”
