US President Donald Trump said Russia should make peace with Ukraine after a "very good" meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, sparking cautious optimism among G7 leaders that a peace deal could be reached, Reuters reported.
Such sentiment regarding the war in Ukraine, now well into its fifth year, stands in stark contrast to a meeting between Zelensky and Trump in the Oval Office last year, when he was told he had no trump card in possible peace talks with Russia, according to Reuters.
Zelensky and his European allies came to this week's G7 summit in the French lakeside resort of Evian-les-Bains, hoping to convince Trump that Ukraine's position on the battlefield had improved thanks to drone strikes deep inside Russian territory.
Trump, who arrived at the summit with a preliminary agreement to end the war with Iran, said he would do everything he could to stop the conflict in Ukraine, but did not provide many details about specific steps to increase pressure on Moscow.
"Look, Russia should make a deal," Trump told reporters, adding that too many young people are dying on the battlefield on both sides.
"I'll do everything I can," Trump said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Trump's statement that Russia should end the war gives reason for optimism.
"I found him very cooperative, and I also saw that he was listening very carefully. In that sense, it gives me again a certain amount of optimism that we here, as Europeans and Americans, are now doing everything we can together to end the war," Merck told reporters.
After a group meeting with Trump, Zelensky told Reuters that G7 leaders agreed that Russia was not winning the war. He added that they had also discussed additional sanctions targeting Russian oil exports, the banking sector and military production to encourage Moscow to negotiate.
Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne later aired a recording of Zelensky saying he hoped for a new meeting with Trump.
"Our teams will meet at different levels over the next 24 hours and will continue to meet. I think we will also meet separately with the President (Trump) tomorrow," Zelensky said.
Zelensky said on Monday that he had offered to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G7 summit, but a Kremlin aide said the issue was not a topic of conversation between Trump and Putin.
Positive conversations about Ukraine
Two European diplomats said that during the meeting, Zelensky showed Trump photos of the aftermath of Monday's Russian attack on the Kiev Pechersk Lavra monastery, Reuters reported.
One diplomat said that Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the attack, while another said that from a psychological point of view, Zelensky's showing the photos was a good move.
European diplomats said the tone of the meeting was constructive.
However, two diplomats said Trump had not made any firm commitment to imposing new US sanctions on Moscow, which European leaders are seeking.
Trump told reporters that Washington could now allow the waiver for Russian oil to expire after an interim deal to end the war with Iran calmed markets, but he did not answer a question about broader punitive measures.
European leaders are trying to convince Trump that earlier American views on possible terms of the agreement were too favorable to Moscow, especially now that Ukrainian drone strikes inside Russia have improved Kiev's position.
"The tide is turning in Ukraine's favor. Russian fatigue has become apparent. This is the moment to further strengthen support," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on the X network.
A French diplomat said G7 leaders had pledged additional air defense capabilities for Ukraine, one of Zelensky's key priorities at a time when Russia is stepping up attacks on civilian targets.
G7 to discuss Strait of Hormuz navigation issue
European leaders also planned to warn Trump that the interim agreement with Iran risks entrenching Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the goal was to reach a "firm, serious and definitive agreement."
Tuesday's working lunch was devoted to the safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran largely closed in late February. The leaders also sought to identify alternative routes that would bypass the waterway, which Trump said would be "fully open" on Friday.
The interim agreement is set to open a 60-day period for complex technical negotiations that will include the fate of Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile and the lifting of international sanctions.
However, European allies fear that an inexperienced American negotiating team may fail to secure a strong nuclear deal or resolve the issue of Iran's ballistic missile program in the next phase, which could lead to a prolonged stalemate.
Trump said the agreement "very clearly" stipulates that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons - something Tehran has long denied it is even trying to do.
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