Macron says G7, including US, aligned on Ukraine support at summit in Canada

Emmanuel Macron has said the G7, including the United States, now recognises Ukraine's territorial integrity and shares a commitment to increasing pressure on Russia. Speaking at the summit in Évian-les-Bains, the French president described what he called a "very deep change" in Washington's approach to the war. He said the leaders present understood that Vladimir Putin was not interested in peace.

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Macron said Donald Trump, like the other G7 leaders, had acknowledged that there was no serious willingness on Russia's part to discuss peace. He described the shift as a "re-synchronisation" of positions and a "very profound shift and remobilisation of the G7". The summit's joint communique vowed to increase sanctions on Russia, including in the energy field.

Trump also met Volodymyr Zelenskyy twice on the margins of the summit, and Zelenskyy updated him on the Ukrainian military's progress. The remarks matter because they point to a possible narrowing of the gap that has often divided Washington from European allies over Ukraine policy. Macron contrasted the current summit with last year's G7, when tensions over Trump's approach to Vladimir Putin were so marked that the US president left early and no final statement was agreed.

Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, also said he believed Trump had shifted to "a more realistic understanding" of how the war would develop, calling it a gamechanger. The G7 brings together the leaders of the US, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Canada and Japan, and its statements can shape the direction of sanctions and diplomatic coordination. In this case, the focus on energy sanctions is significant because Russia's energy sector has long been a central target of Western measures.

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Any sign of stronger alignment among the G7 could affect how far those measures are tightened and how consistently they are enforced. Macron said he had "always trusted" Trump to follow through on commitments, adding that when the US president had made promises to allies he had kept them. Diplomats at the summit said Trump arrived in a better mood than expected after the apparent end of the Iran war, and that he showed a genuine willingness to engage on issues.

Those comments suggest the summit atmosphere may have helped produce the more united message on Ukraine. What remains unclear is how far the apparent shift in tone will translate into concrete US action on sanctions and military support. It is also not yet clear whether the G7's stated unity will hold if the war develops in ways that test the group's consensus.

The next point to watch is whether the summit language is followed by new measures against Russia, particularly in the energy sector.

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