(AP) — Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney continued his efforts to pivot away from the United States and allign with Europe, meeting with the leader of Ireland on Saturday ahead of the upcoming G7 summit. He says middle power countries shouldn’t compete for favour with America.

Carney said that Canada and the European Union have a combined population that is more than twice that of the United States, with a similarly sized economy and a collective defense budget that is twice that of China’s.

He said smaller nations can multiply their strength by partnering with like-minded allies.