EVIAN-LES-BAINS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined a summit of G7 leaders on Tuesday as the group sought to ramp up pressure on Russia to end the war against his country.
The talks brought Zelensky face-to-face with US President Donald Trump, who has shown signs of losing patience with Russia despite previously reaching out to President Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky was warmly greeted by host President Emmanuel Macron, who has helped drive European efforts to pile pressure on Russia in recent months.
The Ukrainian president’s attendance came after a Russian barrage of missiles early Monday killed at least 11 people and sparked a fire at a landmark Kyiv cathedral. Zelensky urged a “decisive and substantive” response from G7 leaders.
He revealed he had proposed a meeting with Putin at the G7, but Moscow was “not ready” for it. Zelensky also suggested Trump could host a Putin meeting in the United States, saying the Kremlin strongman would find such an offer “harder to refuse”.
Trump, who spoke by phone to both leaders, expressed optimism. “Maybe we can do something” on Ukraine at the G7, he said. “They’re both open to it.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the UK would supply enriched uranium to Ukraine for its nuclear power stations and impose new sanctions against Russia, describing it as “choking off the revenues that fuel Putin’s war”.
European leaders are expected to remind Trump of the importance of pushing Russia to accept peace on Kyiv’s terms and not pressure Ukraine into making concessions.
Some analysts say recent battlefield successes have tilted the balance in Ukraine’s favour and have urged the West not to slacken in its support.
A parade of world leaders is taking place in Evian, with France keen to expand the G7’s reach beyond its membership of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
