G7 summit in France softens as Trump meets Zelensky on Ukraine

A preliminary deal with Iran helped take the edge off a Group of Seven summit that European leaders had hoped would avoid open friction with Donald Trump and bring Ukraine back to the center of the agenda. In Evian-les-Bains, France, the mood was looser than expected as Emmanuel Macron worked to project unity, while allies looked for any sign that Trump would stay engaged on Russia after more than four years of war.

Trump met Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the summit on June 16, their first face-to-face encounter in nearly four months. The meeting lasted about 30 minutes and came as Zelensky tried to pull leaders’ attention back to the war in Ukraine after the latest crisis in the Middle East had crowded the issue aside. Trump said Russia should make a deal with Ukraine and that he would do “whatever I can” to help end the war.

That softer tone was itself a calculation. France, as host, wanted to avoid confrontation with Trump and keep the G7 focused on practical cooperation rather than public splits with Washington. European leaders and Canada were also pressing to keep Russia on the table, with hopes that the United States might be pushed toward renewed sanctions pressure on Russian oil shipments. The effort reflected a simple political reality: without U.S. leverage, the West’s options on Ukraine remain constrained.

The summit brought together France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada, along with the European Union. Around that core group, the agenda stretched beyond the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East to global economic stability, growth, emerging technologies, cancer and a coordinated response to the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak. The broad list underscored how much the G7 still tries to juggle even when two major conflicts dominate the diplomatic calendar.

Evian itself carried symbolic weight. The summit marked the return of the G7 to the resort town 23 years after the 2003 Evian G8 summit and seven years after France last hosted the group in Biarritz. For Macron, that backdrop offered a chance to present France as a broker of calm. For Trump’s allies, the more immediate test was whether a warmer atmosphere could produce anything tangible on Iran, Ukraine or trade before the harmony faded.