U.S. allies at the Group of Seven summit worked Tuesday to move the war in Ukraine back up President Donald Trump’s agenda, more than four years after Russia’s full scale invasion. The Iran conflict had dominated headlines in recent weeks, but after announcing a deal to end the three and a half month war in the Gulf, Trump said he now wants to focus on Ukraine. Iran, he said, will soon be “back in the rearview mirror.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined leaders for a brief morning session that lasted 75 minutes. According to a French diplomat familiar with the talks, the group, including Trump, agreed to raise pressure on Russia through sanctions targeting its oil and natural gas sectors. The diplomat, speaking anonymously about ongoing discussions in Evian, called the conversation very fruitful.
Leaders also agreed on a shared position to bolster Ukraine with additional air defense capabilities and other protections. As Washington has cut back aid under Trump, France and its European partners are now Kyiv’s largest providers of military and financial support.
In the French spa town near the Swiss border, Trump downplayed the war’s impact on the U.S. but lamented the death toll. “The whole thing is ridiculous,” he said. “So, yeah, I’m going to do whatever I can.”
The U.K. announced new sanctions targeting the shadow fleet Russia uses to ship oil and gas, along with the finance networks Moscow relies on to evade Western measures. Several targeted vessels were recently purchased to carry liquefied natural gas from the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project.
Hours before the summit opened, Russia fired hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at Ukraine’s largest cities, killing 11 people and setting fire to a religious landmark. The barrage followed separate phone calls Zelenskyy and Putin held with Trump on Sunday, the U.S. leader’s 80th birthday.
While campaigning in 2024, Trump claimed he could end the war within 24 hours of taking office. He has since admitted the task proved harder than expected. On Monday, Ukraine formally opened European Union membership negotiations, a process requiring years of reform. Kyiv views EU membership as a security guarantee, though it considers NATO membership the stronger shield. The Trump administration insists that cannot happen while the war continues.
