G7: World leaders press Trump on Ukraine as summit wraps up
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What is the main agenda of the G7 meeting regarding Ukraine?
The G7 meeting of world leaders got underway yesterday in the French countryside. The presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shows that bolstering support to end the war with Russia is high on the agenda. But it's not the only item up for discussion. G7 leaders, including US President Donald Trump, will debate artificial intelligence, global economics and debt burdens on developing nations, as well as learning more about the details of the US-Iran peace deal. which is due to be signed on Friday. For the latest on all these discussions, I'm joined from Evian by Sky News foreign correspondent Alistair Bunkle. Morning, Alistair.
Morning, David.
Clearly, the fact that Zelensky was there shows that the rest of the G7 are keen to get some momentum behind trying to end the war in Ukraine. Are they having any luck in attracting Donald Trump's attention?
I mean, look at the body language when he arrived as well. You know, hugs, very warm embraces from... The French leader, the French president, the British prime minister, the Canadian prime minister, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, you know, he was welcomed there very much as a friend and ally. But it's Donald Trump that he needs to win back around. They've had an on-off relationship, as we know, infamously. I think there is a feeling that Donald Trump, well, at least as far as he's concerned, he has a deal now with Iran. We'll see how that manifests over the coming days and months. But possibly he now has the mental bandwidth to refocus back onto Ukraine. I mean, the question is, does he want to?
Does he still see it as part of his problem? I think as long as he feels, well, maybe two things. One, if Ukraine is... making advances and there is evidence to show that it is starting to have the upper hand on the battlefield, then Trump might feel inclined to back the victor as he tends to want to. But he always needs to be persuaded that this is a problem that requires his help, that this is a problem that affects America. And he's been pretty sceptical about that.
Yeah, well, I mean, he famously told Vladimir Zelensky in the Oval Office in that infamous meeting that he didn't hold any cards. But Zelensky does seem to have a better hand these days because, as you say, Ukraine does seem to be making some progress on the battlefield.
Yeah, they are. They're winning the drone war. It's not clear-cut. I mean, it's not like Ukraine is making dramatic progress in regaining territory. It's back and forth, as it has been recently. for seven years. But there are signs that they are starting to make progress targeting strategic locations, particularly roads into Crimea, cutting off the supplies getting into Crimea. They seem to have better developed drone defenses than the Russians. The Russian economy had a bit of a boost because of the rising oil prices and because of what was going on in the Strait of Hormuz. But the Russian economy is in trouble. We're starting to see And again, I wouldn't want to exaggerate it, but we are starting to see elements of opening questions and questioning even dissent within Russia about what is going on.
How is Donald Trump's relationship with other G7 leaders affecting discussions?
They're suffering a huge, huge cost of human life to keep fighting this war. So there are signs that President Putin is starting to struggle now, and Ukrainians with now an awful lot of support from the Europeans. Europe now funds... two-thirds of Ukraine's budget for the next two years. The Americans really don't give very much at all now to the Ukrainians, which is what Trump pressured the Europeans to do. He said, you know, this is kind of your problem. You should be taking the lead. Well, in fairness to the Europeans, they are now. The question is, if negotiations restart, what role will the Europeans play in those negotiations because there is a growing feeling that they should be around that table.
Will Trump want them around that table? Will Putin want them around that table? But they seem to have earned a spot there at least.
There was some suggestion that Zelensky was pushing Trump to offer to hold summers involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States on American soil.
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