US President Donald Trump held a “very good meeting” with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the G7 summit in France, he told journalists on June 16, adding that “Russia should make a deal” while hinting that Europe’s largest conflict since World War II might be moving up his priority list.
US efforts to broker peace in the conflict that has raged since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have largely stalled in recent months, particularly since US and Israeli air strikes began the war with Iran on February 28.
But Trump suggested this may change now that aframework agreement with Iranhas been announced.
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White House Says Iran, Ukraine, High On Trump’s G7 Agenda
Asked if he would now have “a special focus” on Ukraine, Trump responded: “We were focused on Iran. That’s going to be in the back, in the rear-view mirror. I want to do whatever I can.”
Trump also said he would meet with Zelenskyy again later on June 16 and that the Iran deal meant Washington was now in a position to reimpose sanctions on Russian oil.
Zelenskyy, in an English-language interview with Reuters, said that for the first time there was “unanimity” at the G7 regarding the war.
“A long time, some of our partners — they’ve been balancing. But now everyone is recognizing that Russia, that Putin, doesn’t want to stop this war,” he said.
Zelenskyy did not name the partners in question, but appeared to be referring to positions taken by Trump — with whom he has at times had a difficult relationship.
“We had real unanimity today in the G7 summit. Everybody was on the side of, I think, on the right side. And it’s good that we have the same information from our intelligence,” Zelenskyy said. “Everybody recognized that Russia wants to attack civilian infrastructure. And this is also a new step of understanding, of unanimity of this understanding.”
Zelenskyy also said he had asked Trump about granting licenses so that Ukraine could begin its own production of Patriot air defense missiles.
“He was very positive that they can help us more with missiles,” Zelenskyy said. “When President Trump is positive, I hope it [means] ‘yes.'”
Hours earlier, as Zelenskyy sat down with G7 leaders, including Trump, he opened a folder with a photograph of what appeared to a nighttime fire — possibly the results of what Ukraine says was a targeted Russian attack on the iconic UNESCO-protectedKyiv-Pechersk Lavra Cathedral, or Monastery of the Caves.
Zelenskyy later confirmed that he had shown photos of the attack to summit participants. He has often presented photos of Russian attacks and atrocities at diplomatic meetings.
The strike on the cathedral, at the heart of the historic monastery complex, has drawn global condemnation and underscored how there is still no end in sight to the conflict — or to intense Russian air strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine.
