Zelensky at G7: Trump agreed to increase pressure on Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky left the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, saying that U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed to increase economic pressure on Russia with the aim of ending the war.

The result of three days of diplomatic efforts in the French Alps was a notable shift in Washington’s position toward Moscow.

The turning point of the summit came on June 16, when Zelensky showed Trump photographs of the burning Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra — a UNESCO World Heritage site struck by a Russian drone during a large-scale air attack on June 15. According to three G7 officials cited by Politico, the sight of the 11th-century cathedral’s golden domes in flames visibly moved the American president and was “probably the final push” that led him to support a tougher joint declaration on Ukraine.

The meeting between Zelensky and Trump took place as talks lasting about 30 minutes with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the summit. According to the Kyiv Independent, it was the first in-person meeting between Zelensky and Trump in more than four months. French officials also confirmed that a three-way phone call between the three leaders took place during the summit.

G7 leaders agreed to tighten sanctions on Russian oil and gas. A French diplomatic source told AFP that the group had decided to “increase pressure on Russia through sanctions on gas and oil.” The agreement marked a notable shift in the U.S. position, as Washington had in recent months been rolling back certain sanctions targeting Russia’s oil revenues.

Trump publicly stated that Russia “must negotiate” an end to the war, citing heavy casualties on both sides. Macron welcomed what he called “very profound changes in the U.S. approach” to Ukraine, noting that Trump had come to understand that Putin is not interested in peace.

Moscow reacted sharply. On June 18, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian state television that European leaders had apparently “pumped” Trump full of “harmful ideas” during the summit.

“We understand that the Europeans are exerting a destructive influence here,” Ushakov said, while insisting that Trump is “a strong leader who holds his own views.”

Zelensky stressed the need to organize talks with Russia before winter, while acknowledging that only Trump is capable of bringing Putin to the negotiating table.

“I believe that Donald Trump can achieve this — essentially he alone,” Zelensky said in an interview with Reuters.