EVIAN-LES-BAINS (France) (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday joined a summit of the G7 group of leading powers seeking to up pressure on Russia to end the war against his country. The talks at the French resort of Evian-les-Bains notably brought Zelensky face-to-face with US President Donald Trump, who has sought to reach out to Russian President Vladimir Putin but also showed signs of losing patience with Russia.
Zelensky was warmly greeted by host President Emmanuel Macron, who has in recent months helped drive European efforts to pile pressure on Russia. The Ukrainian president’s attendance at the special morning session kicked off the second day of the three-day meeting, which will be followed later in the day by a session on Iran to be attended by Arab leaders. European leaders will be keen to remind Trump of the importance of pushing Russia to accept peace on Kyiv’s terms and not pressure Ukraine into making concessions to Moscow.
Zelensky on Monday urged a “decisive and substantive” response from the G7 leaders after the latest wave of Russian strikes, which killed at least 11 people and sparked a fire at a landmark Kyiv cathedral. He revealed he had proposed a meeting with Putin at the G7 in France, but that Moscow was “not ready” for it. Later Monday, Zelensky also said he had suggested to Trump that he could meet Putin in the United States, suggesting the Kremlin strongman would find such an offer “harder to refuse”. Trump, who spoke by phone to both Zelensky and Putin, expressed optimism as he arrived at the summit Monday and said that “maybe we can do something” on Ukraine at the G7. “They’re both open to it,” he said. “I had two very good conversations yesterday,” the US president added, without giving further details.
– ‘Barbaric strikes’ – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said ahead of the G7 summit session that the United Kingdom plans to supply enriched uranium to Ukraine for its nuclear power stations and impose new sanctions against Russia. Denouncing Russia’s “barbaric strikes” on Ukraine, the United Kingdom is “stepping up” by “choking off the revenues that fuel Putin’s war and powering Ukraine through the winters ahead”, Starmer’s office quoted him as saying.
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 for Kyiv. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the emir of Qatar, and the president of the United Arab Emirates will be present for a special session on Iran later in the day on Tuesday. Allies will be eager to question Trump over his deal with Iran to end the Middle East war, which he has said will mean the Strait of Hormuz fully reopens on Friday.
But he gave a cool reception to a proposed British-French military mission to ensure free passage in the critical shipping bottleneck, insisting that the US did not need “much help”. A parade of world leaders is taking place in Evian, with France keen to expand the reach of the G7 beyond its membership of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States. The likes of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are also present.
© 2024 AFP
