G7 Summit Tests Trump Ties With Allies Over Iran, Ukraine

President Donald Trump landed in France on Monday for the annual Group of Seven summit in Evian-les-Bains, where a tentative agreement with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz will compete for attention with longstanding disputes over trade, Ukraine and the conduct of the three-month-old conflict in the Middle East. The gathering brings together leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union, along with invited guests including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and several Middle Eastern heads of state.

Trump is scheduled to hold separate meetings with the Emir of Qatar and the president of the United Arab Emirates, followed by a working lunch that will include other G7 participants and regional leaders. Administration officials said the sessions will focus on the mechanics of lifting the U.S. blockade once Iran complies with requirements to keep the waterway open without tolls. The officials described the arrangement as performance-based, with sanctions relief tied to verifiable steps rather than broad promises.

Those bilateral talks occur against a backdrop of friction with several European counterparts. Trump has publicly criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and others for what he views as insufficient support for U.S. military objectives against Iran. European leaders, in turn, have questioned the legal basis for the initial U.S. strikes and expressed concern over the economic fallout from higher energy prices. French President Emmanuel Macron, the summit host, is the only G7 leader slated for a one-on-one session with Trump this week, though informal encounters on the sidelines remain possible.

The Ukraine conflict is also expected to feature prominently. On Tuesday, Trump will join a working session that includes Zelensky. No formal bilateral meeting has been confirmed, yet both sides have left room for additional discussions. Ukrainian forces have recently expanded their use of long-range drones against Russian targets, improving Kyiv’s negotiating position relative to earlier stages of the war. European officials have pressed for coordinated pressure on Russia while resisting any framework that would reward territorial gains.

Trade and technology issues remain on the formal agenda, including supply-chain resilience, critical minerals and artificial intelligence governance. Yet the combination of the Iran negotiations and the Ukraine war has narrowed the space for those topics. Several participants have described the atmosphere as one of managed distance rather than outright confrontation, with leaders seeking to avoid open clashes while registering disagreements through public statements and private channels.

The summit’s structure itself reflects these cross-pressures. Invitations extended to leaders from India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and others underscore an effort to broaden discussion of regional stability beyond the core G7 membership. At the same time, the absence of a single agreed framework for either conflict leaves the meetings dependent on bilateral follow-through rather than collective commitments. How the various threads are advanced will depend in part on whether the Iran arrangement produces concrete compliance measures in the coming weeks.