European Council President Donald Tusk (right) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left) during a press conference after an EU-Japan summit at the European Council on July 6, 2017, in Brussels | John Thys/AFP via Getty Images Japan and EU celebrate with a dig at Trump On eve of G20, EU leaders bask in glory as Japanese PM pokes Trump on trade.

Clinching a landmark political deal with Japan and setting the stage for a sweeping free-trade agreement was a huge victory for the EU. The timing — on the eve of the G20 summit — couldn't have been better.

But European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker didn't have to gloat, or take a poke at U.S. President Donald Trump: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzõ Abe did it for them.

At a celebratory news conference Thursday, Abe made clear that Japan and the EU had teamed up to fill a void created by Trump's protectionist tendencies and his withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) brokered by his predecessor, Barack Obama.

And maybe, just maybe, he suggested, Trump would take the hint and rethink his views on international trade.

"Just like the TPP, this is a high-quality agreement," Abe said. "In a similar way Japan and the EU will benefit in a win-win relationship, similarly regarding the TPP for each of the member states it is a win-win. And with the agreement ... entire regions will become prosperous in terms of economy and will benefit. In that regard, the Japan-EU EPA and the TPP have commonalities.

"Unfortunately, at this moment in the case of TPP, the U.S. has withdrawn," he said. "However at this time, Japan and EU have reached agreement in principle on fundamental elements between ourselves."

Tusk and Juncker wore poker faces, but either man would have been forgiven for jumping up and down and pumping his fists in the air. After a string of election victories for pro-EU candidates, the Japan accord put a cherry on the cake.

And Abe, who has also positioned himself as an advocate for global free trade, did not stop laying it on, saying he would continue trying to school Trump, at least on the issue of trade.

"As for our approach vis-à-vis the United States, to President Trump," he said in response to a question from a Japanese reporter, "last year in November I met him for the first time. Ever since then, the importance, the significance of TPP is what I have constantly tried to explain to the president, how the TPP is not a win or lose. Within the entire region, for all the member countries it is a positive advantage, is what I have tried to explain."

Tusk and Juncker, of course, could hardly deny themselves a little bit of boasting.

Opening the news conference, Tusk noted that the agreement with Japan was long in the making. "Actually we planned this some time ago, when we promised to do everything in our power to conclude political and trade talks between Japan and the European Union on the eve of the G20 summit," he said. "And we did it!"

"The EU is more and more engaged globally," Tusk said at another point, adding, "although some are saying the time of isolationism and disintegration is coming again. We are demonstrating that this is not the case, that the world really doesn't need to go 100 years back in time. Quite the opposite."

Juncker also chimed in on the political ramifications, which he said were, well, huge.

"The depth of this agreement goes beyond free trade," he said. "Its impacts go far beyond our shores. It makes a statement about the future of open and fair trade in today's world. It sets the standards for others. And it shows that closing ourselves off from the world is not good for business nor for the global economy, nor for workers. As far as we are concerned, there is no protection in protectionism."