France, Évian-les-Bains. The main day of talks at the G7 summit, hosted this year by French President Emmanuel Macron, has come to a close at the lakeside resort of Évian-les-Bains. The war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East were the key topics of discussion on Tuesday.
The meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy and calls for peace
President of the United States Donald Trump following a meeting with the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the talks had been «very good» and publicly called on Moscow to resolve the conflict.
«Listen, Russia must sign the agreement. I will do everything in my power,» Trump told reporters.
At the same time, no specific measures to step up pressure on the Kremlin were announced following the meeting.
The issue of sanctions and air defence
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the G7 leaders have agreed that Russia will not win this war. The Ukrainian president noted that Donald Trump is «very positive» about the possibility of the US increasing its aid to Ukraine by supplying missiles for air defence systems.
The parties also discussed further sanctions against Moscow, in particular:
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Sanctions on Russian oil exports;
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Restrictions on the Russian banking sector;
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Strikes against Russian military production to force the Kremlin to the negotiating table.
European diplomats described the tone of the meeting as constructive. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz noted Trump’s «cooperative» attitude on the issue of sanctions, adding that the US President had listened to his colleagues «very attentively». However, according to data According to Reuters sources, Trump has so far refrained from making any clear commitments regarding the imposition of new unilateral US sanctions, something on which Europe is insisting.
The possibility of direct negotiations
The day before, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he had proposed holding a meeting with Vladimir Putin directly on the sidelines of the G7 summit. However, the Kremlin responded that it had not received an official invitation. The Russian side also added that the idea of such a meeting had not been raised at all during Sunday’s telephone conversation between Trump and Putin.
The Middle East route and maritime safety
G7 Summit is taking place against a backdrop of significant geopolitical shifts in the Middle East: Washington and Tehran have reached a preliminary agreement to end a wider regional conflict, with the official signing scheduled for Friday.
To discuss this crisis, the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Egypt joined the G7 leaders for a working lunch. The main topic of the expanded meeting was ensuring security and restoring free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
The official programme for the second day concluded with a gala dinner, which took place behind closed doors, with the press barred from attending. The G7 Leaders’ Summit will continue until 17 June.
