Trump Arrives In Évian-Les-Bains For G7 Summit As Ukraine War Looms Large

President Donald Trump arrived in France for the Group of Seven summit in Évian-les-Bains, where the war in Ukraine is expected to loom large alongside the U.S.-Iran conflict.

“Trump arrives in France for 1st G7 summit since US-Iran war began Trade and the war in Ukraine are also expected to be topics of conversation”

ABC News

The summit runs from June 15 to 17, and the agenda is framed around securing lasting peace in Ukraine even as the war is described as escalating with Ukraine’s expansion of long-range drone attacks against Russia.

ABC News

Trump is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday, while a senior administration official said Trump’s goals include “economic growth and development, supply chain resilience, illegal immigration and artificial intelligence.”

NBC News reported that Trump and other G7 participants are scheduled to sit down with Zelenskyy to discuss ways to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict on Tuesday, with Trump’s approach shaped by his past Oval Office exchange with Zelenskyy in which he told him he “doesn’t have the cards.”

At the G7 in Evian, Trump “touted his preliminary deal to end the Iran war” and suggested he will seek to end hostilities in Ukraine and Lebanon as he joined global leaders at the summit.

Trump told French President Emmanuel Macron that the Strait of Hormuz “is going to be open,” and Al Jazeera reported that the U.S. leader said he “doesn’t think we’re gonna need much help” to reopen it.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera also reported Trump said, “We had a very good conversation yesterday with President Zelenskyy and President Putin,” and framed the moment as an opening for talks while noting that Zelenskyy had offered to meet Putin with Trump and European leaders but the Kremlin didn’t reply.

DW reported that a European initiative led by Germany, France and the United Kingdom aims to revive peace talks between Russia and Ukraine with both the United States and Europe at the table, while EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg launched accession talks with Ukraine and European Council President Antonio Costa said, “Today we are taking a historic step towards the integration of Ukraine into the European Union.”

The sources tie the Ukraine track at the G7 to pressure on Russia and continued support for Ukraine, with NBC News describing European leaders as wanting Putin blamed for the war and Ukraine’s sovereignty preserved.

“The American-Iranian agreement to halt the war, open the Strait of Hormuz, and the Russia-Ukraine war dominated discussions among the leaders taking part in the G7 summit in France”

Al-Jazeera Net

NBC News quoted William Taylor, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine with the Atlantic Council think tank, saying, “The Russians seem to be on their back foot,” and it added that analysts and European leaders argue Ukraine’s resilience gives Trump leverage to press Putin to withdraw troops and end the fighting.

Al Jazeera Net reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a decisive response from G7 leaders to the latest Russian attacks that “killed at least 11 people in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv,” as he inspected damage to the main cathedral in the Pechersk Lavra Monastery complex.

In parallel, DW said the core strategy for Europeans is maintaining pressure through continued support for Ukraine and additional sanctions on Russia, while Ursula von der Leyen said, “Ukraine is holding the front line and even partially regaining territory,” and that “Russia is feeling the strain and pressure.”