Diplomatic Pivot After Middle East Progress
Evian, France — President Donald Trump arrived at the G7 summit on Tuesday with a war in the Middle East he believes is winding down, and turned his full diplomatic weight toward the conflict he once predicted he could settle in a single day: the grinding, four-year fight between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump held an extended working session with G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday morning — the meeting ran roughly an hour past its scheduled time — and followed it with a separate one-on-one conversation with Zelenskyy and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the summit in Evian-les-Bains, France. The president told reporters he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday about the same subject, and offered a blunt message for Moscow.
“Russia should make a deal,” Trump said. “Russia has lost tremendous amounts of people, and so has Ukraine.”
The diplomatic pivot came just days after the United States and Iran reached a preliminary agreement to bring their own months-long war in the Middle East to an end. The U.S. is set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Tehran on Friday. Trump framed the development as clearing the path for him to focus on the European theater.
“We were focused on Iran, that’s going to be in the rear-view mirror,” he said. “I’m going to do whatever I can.” He called the loss of life in the Russia-Ukraine war “ridiculous” and reiterated that he had believed, before returning to the White House for his second term, that he could resolve it quickly.
Zelenskyy, who has spent months pressing Western allies for more weapons and stronger security guarantees, posted on social media Tuesday that “substantive meetings” were underway at the summit. “The schedule for the day is packed,” he wrote. “The key focus is to strengthen air defense for Ukraine and advance diplomacy, to make Russia end its war. Peace is needed.”
Europeans Carry the Burden in Kyiv
The Ukrainian leader’s presence at the G7 — a forum that traditionally centers on economic cooperation among the world’s largest advanced economies — underscored how the war has reshaped the agenda of multilateral summits. This year’s gathering, hosted by France under its rotating presidency, placed Ukraine at the center of nearly every bilateral and plenary session.
European allies have been pushing hard for the United States to maintain, and in some cases deepen, its commitment to Kyiv. French President Emmanuel Macron said ahead of the summit that Europeans were currently providing nearly all the military and financial support keeping Ukraine in the fight.
“Europeans are currently providing almost 100 percent of the aid to Ukraine,” Macron said at a press briefing. “It is important that our other G7 partners, and in particular the United States, continue to do their part — at the very least, not weaken their position towards Ukraine.”
A joint statement Monday evening from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa noted that the EU’s 90-billion-euro loan package to Ukraine covers roughly two-thirds of the country’s financing needs through 2027. “For the remaining third, we need Ukraine’s partners to step up,” they said. “This will be a topic at this Summit.”
Transatlantic Tensions Beyond Ukraine
The diplomatic warmth between Washington and its European counterparts, however, remains complicated by several flashpoints. Tensions have escalated in recent months over disagreements about military operations in the Middle East, trade tariffs, and questions about the direction of NATO’s collective defense commitments. Trump threatened France with significant tariffs over its refusal to back a U.S.-proposed governance framework for post-conflict Gaza, and renewed tariff threats against Paris this week over a French technology tax.
Despite the friction, G7 leaders expressed cautious optimism following Tuesday’s sessions. The summit enters its final day on Wednesday, and officials said Trump had indicated a willingness to continue shuttle diplomacy between Kyiv and Moscow — a role no U.S. president has played since the war began. Whether Putin is prepared to reciprocate remains the central unanswered question. Russian officials have so far given no public indication that Moscow is prepared to accept the terms Kyiv and its Western backers would require.
Trump has said he believes personal relationships with world leaders can unlock what diplomacy has failed to achieve, and his conversations with Putin on Sunday represent his most direct engagement with the Russian president since the war began. What emerged from those talks — and whether it moves the needle toward a ceasefire or merely buys time — will be the defining question of the summit’s final day.