German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed a successful G7 summit, as the group agreed tougher measures on Russia and made progress on key conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
The three-day meeting in the French town of Evian focused on Trump’s deal to end the war with Iran and efforts to pressure Russia into brokering peace with Ukraine through ramped-up sanctions.
There was a major breakthrough on the Middle East, with Trump signing a memorandum of understanding that is meant to bring the months-long conflict with Tehran to a close.
The leaders of Germany, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United States also agreed on a final statement that included references to the Ukraine war, in a contrast to last year’s meeting, when Trump walked out early.
“It was tough work but worth it,” said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, describing the statement as a “success”.
As well as increasing supplies of air defence equipment to Ukraine, the leaders agreed to “increase the pressure on the Russian war economy” by strengthening sanctions, including on Moscow’s fossil fuel revenues, the statement said.
Throughout the summit, which was attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump took a harder line against Moscow, saying Russia had to seek a deal and showing impatience over the casualty toll on both sides.
G7 leaders also agreed to grant licences for Ukraine-based companies to produce long-range missiles and air defence systems, a diplomatic source said.
In his final news conference, Trump hailed his talks with Zelensky in Evian and a recent phone conversation with Putin.
“They both want to do something, they just don’t know how to do it,” he commented.
AI talks
At a lunch on Wednesday the digital sphere took centre stage, with some European G7 members pushing for more security to protect minors in a fast-changing world, moves that have irked the United States.
Sam Altman, head of artificial intelligence giant OpenAI; Anthropic chief Dario Amodei; the founder of Google’s AI lab DeepMind, Demis Hassabis; and Arthur Mensch, of their European rival Mistral AI, all attended.
G7 leaders called on tech firms “to develop and apply technology and systems that ensure safe, secure and age-appropriate experiences”, according to a joint statement.
Macron called for “better regulation” of AI, warning of the risk of “non-cooperation between democracies”.
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