President Trump used the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, to put real pressure behind his Ukraine peace push.
He met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told Russia it should make a deal, and signaled the United States can soon resume sanctions on Russian oil shipments.
Trump paired private diplomacy with public pressure and economic leverage, all aimed at one goal.
Force movement toward peace.
.@POTUS: "Russia should make a deal. Russia's lost tremendous amounts of people, and so has Ukraine… I spoke with President Putin on Sunday, and it's sort of the same thing—they just keep going, fighting, losing soldiers… not since WW2 has anything like this happened." pic.twitter.com/yU7mFWueHm
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 16, 2026
Zelenskyy joined the G7 leaders for a fast-moving morning session, and Trump made clear where the leverage now sits.
AP News reported:
The United States could soon reimpose sanctions on Russian oil shipments after President Donald Trump and fellow leaders at the Group of Seven summit of major industrialized democracies moved Tuesday to put the war in Ukraine back on top of their agenda, more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
The Iran conflict has in recent weeks overshadowed Ukraine, but following his announcement of an agreement to end the 3 1/2-month-old conflict in the Gulf, Trump said he now wants to focus on Ukraine.
Asked if he would reinstitute sanctions on Russia that were eased to help lower oil prices, Trump said the restrictions can go back in place as more oil moves through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Soon we’ll be able to do that because the oil is now flowing,” Trump told reporters. “We’re in a position to do that soon.”
The U.S. in March temporarily eased some sanctions on some Russian oil shipments as crude prices sharply increased.
The waiver has been extended as the war in the Gulf stretched on.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined the G7 leaders for talks on the war in his country that wrapped quickly, as leaders gathered for just 75 minutes.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is serious about peace while Russia toys with world leaders. “The entire ‘Seven’ supports Ukraine unanimously today,” Zelenskyy said.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Russian side, meanwhile, is failing to show any serious activity toward peace, Zelenskyy said, calling Russia’s actions “a game.”
The oil point is the one Vladimir Putin should be watching.
Sanctions on Russian oil were eased when crude prices were spiking. Trump is now saying the pressure can come back.
That is leverage stated plainly.
European leaders, meanwhile, want Trump pulled deeper into the endgame.
They pressed him to host the talks himself, with both Zelenskyy and Putin at the table.
The Guardian reported:
European leaders at the G7 summit have urged Donald Trump to try to break the deadlock over ending the Ukraine war by taking up the proposal for him to host talks in the US between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin.
ADVERTISEMENTThe US president lamented “the great antipathy” between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders that made it difficult to reach a settlement, and vowed to do what he could.
He said Moscow “should make a deal”, noting that it had “lost a great many people, just like Ukraine”.
Speaking at a morning session of G7 leaders and Zelenskyy, Trump said he would do what he could, and German sources claimed Trump recognised that Russia was in a weaker position than previously.
The leaders of the G7, which comprises the US, Japan, France, Canada, the UK, Italy and Germany, also agreed to step up sanctions on Russian energy.
ADVERTISEMENTThe European Union is already preparing its 21st sanctions package, including restrictions on the sale of LNG tankers to Russia.
Zelenskyy – who did not initially have a bilateral meeting with Trump scheduled – eventually met the US president alongside Macron for his first face-to-face meeting in four months.
Zelenskyy tried to convince Trump that Ukraine was no longer losing on the battlefield, and the US role should not be that of a messenger between the two sides but of a mediator supportive of Ukraine.
The takeaway is hard to miss.
Trump is the leader other leaders come to when they want the war to end.
Private talks, public pressure, and now economic pressure are all pointing the same direction.
Putin has lost heavy numbers, the oil card is back on the table, and the man holding it is telling Moscow to make a deal.
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This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up. View the original article here.
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