11 months · 24 summary articles
Donald Trump has signalled a dramatic shift in his stance on the Ukraine war, telling G7 leaders in Évian-les-Bains on Tuesday that Russia cannot win militarily and urging Moscow to strike a peace deal with Kyiv. The US president’s remarks, delivered during a trilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, mark a sharp departure from his previous scepticism about Western support for Ukraine and inject fresh momentum into stalled peace talks. European diplomats described the encounter as “unexpectedly positive,” with one senior EU official telling *Politico* that Trump’s softened tone had fostered “a certain sense of optimism” among allies .
Trump’s pivot follows intense pressure from European leaders, who have sought to re-engage Washington in the conflict after months of wavering support. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reportedly used the summit to highlight the strategic stakes, while EU negotiators framed the Ukraine crisis as a test of transatlantic unity ahead of next month’s NATO summit in Turkey. “The Europeans have kept the enthusiasm alive by focusing on Trump’s recent Iran deal and offering logistical support in the Strait of Hormuz,” *Le Monde* reported, noting that the diplomatic outreach appears to have swayed the US president .
Zelensky, who met Trump privately for what both sides described as a “very good” discussion, told reporters that G7 leaders had concluded Vladimir Putin was not prevailing on the battlefield. “This is a turning point,” Romanian outlet *Adevărul* quoted a Ukrainian official as saying, adding that Trump’s admission that Russia cannot win militarily could force Moscow to reconsider its maximalist demands . The shift comes as Ukraine’s Western allies scramble to prevent a collapse in military aid, with Trump’s renewed focus on Ukraine coinciding with fresh warnings from Kyiv about shortages of artillery shells and air-defence systems.
The diplomatic thaw contrasts sharply with the tensions that dominated the summit’s first day, when European leaders had braced for a confrontation over Iran and Ukraine. Instead, Trump’s softened rhetoric has raised hopes of a breakthrough, though analysts caution that any peace push will hinge on whether Washington can broker a compromise acceptable to both Kyiv and Moscow. Meanwhile, the broader geopolitical landscape remains fraught, with Trump’s evolving priorities—from Ukraine to Taiwan—reshaping the global balance. A commentary in *Commonspace.eu* noted that the international community’s fixation on Ukraine since 2022 had obscured the strategic risks in the Taiwan Strait, where tensions flared during Nancy Pelosi’s 2022 visit and continue to simmer .
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