Evian-les-Bains, France. U.S. President Donald Trump said Russia should make peace with Ukraine and that he would try to help after Group of Seven leaders met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday. No concrete new steps to increase pressure on Moscow were detailed.
Meeting at G7 summit
Trump, who arrived at the G7 summit in the French lakeside resort of Evian-les-Bains with what he described as a preliminary deal to end his war with Iran and a renewed focus on the conflict in Ukraine, said his meeting with Zelenskiy was “very good”.
Trump was due to hold face-to-face talks with Zelenskiy later on Tuesday. Earlier, Ukraine’s presidency shared images of Zelenskiy speaking with Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the summit.
Calls for support and pressure on Moscow
Zelenskiy and European leaders sought to persuade Trump that Ukraine’s position had improved as it pushed for more support to strengthen its hand in eventual peace talks.
“I’m gonna do whatever I can,” Trump told reporters, adding that too many young men were dying on the battlefield on both sides. “Look, Russia should make a deal.”
Zelenskiy told Reuters in an interview that his main priority was to strengthen air defence for Ukraine. He also said there had been discussion about additional sanctions aimed at bringing Moscow to the negotiating table.
Reaction to Kyiv strike images
Two European diplomats said Zelenskiy showed Trump images of the aftermath of a Russian strike on Kyiv’s Pechersk Lavra monastery on Monday during the meeting.
One of the diplomats said Trump expressed disapproval of the strike, while the other said it had been “psychologically” a good move by Zelenskiy to present the images.
European assessment
European diplomats said the tone of the meeting had been constructive.
“We now seem to have joint analysis: that Russia is on the defensive now,” one European diplomat said.