With Zelensky present, G7 seeks to ‘do something’ on Ukraine

EVIAN-LES-BAINES: The G7 group of leading powers will hold talks on Tuesday with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Ukraine, with US leader Donald Trump saying that “maybe we can do something” after over four years of war sparked by Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Zelensky will attend a special morning session of the summit in the French spa town of Evian devoted to Ukraine, which will be followed later in the day by a session on Iran to be attended by Arab leaders.

European leaders hosted by President Emmanuel Macron will be keen to remind Trump of the importance of pushing Russia to accept peace on Kyiv’s terms and not pressure Ukraine to accept concessions to Moscow.

Zelensky on Monday urged a “decisive and substantive” response from the G7 leaders after the latest wave of Russian strikes that killed at least 11 people and sparked a fire at a landmark Kyiv cathedral.

He revealed he had proposed a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin at the G7, but that Moscow was “not ready” for it.

But 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 the UK is 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 UK is “stepping up” by “choking off the revenues that fuel Putin’s war and powering Ukraine through the winters ahead”, his office quoted Starmer as saying.

Some analysts say recent battlefield success has 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 president of the UAE 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 opens on Friday.

But he was cool over a proposed British-French military mission to ensure free passage in the critical shipping bottleneck, saying the US did not need “much help”.

A parade of world leaders is taking place over the three-day summit, with France keen to expand the reach of the G7 beyond its membership of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US. The likes of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are also present.