Trump urges Russia to make deal with Ukraine after ‘good’ meeting with Zelensky at G7

US President Donald Trump said Russia should make peace with Ukraine after a “very good” meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, in comments that sparked cautious optimism among G7 leaders that a peace deal could be struck.

The upbeat mood over the Ukraine war, now deep into its fifth year, stands in stark contrast to Zelensky’s meeting with Trump in the Oval Office last year, when he was told he had no leverage in potential peace talks with Russia.

Zelensky and his European allies came to this week’s ‌G7 summit in the French lakeside resort of Evian-les-Bains hoping to impress upon Trump that Ukraine’s battlefield fortunes had improved thanks to its drone incursions deep into Russia.

Trump, who arrived at the summit brandishing a preliminary deal to end his war with Iran, said he would do what he could to end the conflict in Ukraine, but there were few details of any concrete steps to raise the pressure on Moscow.

“Look, Russia should make a deal,” Trump told reporters, adding that too many young men were dying on the battlefield on both sides. “I’m gonna do whatever I can.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Trump’s statement that Russia should end the war was cause for cheer.