Donald Trump said Russia should make peace with Ukraine after what he described as a “very good” meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky, remarks that stirred guarded hope among G7 leaders that a breakthrough in the war could still be within reach.
That more upbeat tone around the conflict, now in its fifth year, marked a sharp departure from Mr Zelensky’s visit to the Oval Office last year, when Mr Trump told him he held little leverage in any future negotiations with Russia.
Mr Zelensky and his European backers arrived at this week’s G7 summit in the French lakeside town of Evian-les-Bains determined to show Mr Trump that Ukraine’s position on the battlefield had strengthened, helped by drone strikes reaching deep inside Russia.
Mr Trump, who came to the summit touting a preliminary deal to end his war with Iran, said he would make every effort to help stop the fighting in Ukraine, though he offered few specifics on any new steps to increase pressure on Moscow.
“I’m gonna do whatever I can.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Mr Trump’s call for Russia to end the war gave allies reason to feel encouraged.
“I found him to be very cooperative, and I also saw him listening very attentively,” Mr Merz told reporters.
“And in that respect, once again, it gives me a certain degree of optimism that we here, as Europeans and as Americans, are now doing everything we can, together, to end the war.”
Speaking to Reuters after the session with Mr Trump, Mr Zelensky said G7 leaders shared the view that Russia was not winning the war.
He said they also talked about additional sanctions aimed at Russia’s oil exports, banking system and military production in an effort to force Moscow to the negotiating table.
Mr Zelensky, who was due to hold face-to-face talks with Mr Trump later, said he had offered to meet Vladimir Putin at the G7 summit, though a Kremlin aide said the idea was not raised during a call between Mr Trump and Mr Putin.
US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron wait for a family photo during the G7 summit
Positive talks on Ukraine
According to two European diplomats, Mr Zelensky used the meeting to show Mr Trump images of the damage left by a Russian strike on Kyiv’s Pechersk Lavra monastery yesterday.
Mr Trump voiced disapproval of the attack, one of the diplomats said, while the other described Mr Zelensky’s decision to present the images as a “psychologically” effective move.
European diplomats said the discussion unfolded in a constructive tone.
Still, two diplomats said Mr Trump stopped short of committing to further US sanctions on Moscow, a step European leaders have been pushing for.
Mr Trump told reporters Washington was now positioned to allow Russian oil waivers to expire after an interim accord ending the Iran war calmed markets, but he did not directly address wider punitive measures.
European leaders have been trying to persuade Mr Trump that earlier US thinking on the terms of any settlement leaned too far in Moscow’s favour, especially now that Ukraine’s drone incursions into Russia have improved its standing.
“The tide is turning for Ukraine,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen posted on X.
“Russia’s fatigue is openly showing. That’s the time to double down on our support.”
A French diplomat said G7 leaders had committed to giving Kyiv more air defence capabilities, a central demand from Mr Zelensky as Russia intensifies strikes on civilian areas.
G7 to examine Hormuz shipping problem
European leaders were also preparing to tell Mr Trump that an interim agreement with Iran could end up entrenching Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the objective was to secure a “solid, serious agreement that is finalised”.
Today’s working lunch centred on the safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran largely closed at the end of February.
Leaders also worked to map out alternative routes that could bypass the waterway, which Mr Trump said would be “completely open” on Friday.
The interim deal is expected to create a 60-day window for highly technical negotiations, including the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium and the lifting of international sanctions.
Even so, European allies worry that an inexperienced US team could struggle to secure a durable nuclear agreement or tackle Iran’s ballistic missile programme in the next round, raising the risk of a drawn-out standoff.
Mr Trump said the deal made it clear “loud and clear” that Iran would not build a nuclear weapon – an ambition Iran has long denied pursuing.
