Macron celebrates Trump's "resynchronization" with Europe and Ukraine
Macron highlights a "real change" in the US president's stance, who accepts increasing support for Kyiv and pressure on Moscow
BarcelonaThe G7 summit in Evian has represented a "real change" in Donald Trump's stance on Ukraine, as highlighted by the French President and host of the meeting, Emmanuel Macron, who stressed that the discussion was "extremely frank" and "useful." At the press conference at the end of the leaders' meeting, the French leader stated that the United States has "resynchronized" with Europe and Ukraine and shown its "clear will" to work together to provide "unconditional support" to Kyiv and "remobilize" pressure on Moscow, "even by strengthening sanctions" on Russian oil and gas.
"We have resynchronized our reading of the situation," he said, after admitting that there had been disagreements. "We have evolved things (...) There has been a resynchronization, a reconvergence, a cooperation from everyone," he celebrated. "There was an Evian moment," he added, and stressed that "everyone listened with respect" to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. According to Macron, the G7 has noted a "rebalancing of forces" in favor of Ukraine, "while Russia is retreating."
He also assured that Trump has realized that Vladimir Putin "does not have a serious will to negotiate peace." And that all participants have made it clear that Ukraine's territorial integrity must be supported, as evidenced by one of the approved declarations. "For the first time, we have reached clear conclusions with Ukraine," he applauded.
Macron insisted that the summit in Evian represented the first "moment of unity" in the last three months, "in an extremely difficult context of a fragmented world," and exemplified this by the fact that nine declarations were adopted unanimously.
Support for the US-Iran agreement
The French president also stated that the agreement between the United States and Iran has received "unanimous approval" from the G7 leaders. "It doesn't fix everything at once," he admitted, but said it allows negotiations to continue. And he stressed that the most important thing is that "everyone complies with the agreement": that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened "without tolls" and that bombings stop, including in Lebanon. "It is vital that Iran, Hezbollah, and Israel do not resume attacks," he said, emphasizing the need to guarantee Lebanon's territorial integrity.
He did not wish to go into detail about the issue of Iran's nuclear program or the fate of enriched uranium: "Right now, the most important thing is the reopening of Hormuz and peace in Lebanon." And he added that the defense commitment developed by the United Kingdom and France to help maritime transport return to normal is an "offer on the table" and that they will act quickly if asked.
Disagreements with Trump
When asked about his relationship with Trump and a supposed strategy of seduction with this evening's dinner in Versailles, Macron replied that he has "always" had confidence in the American president. "I have always told him things as they are. When we have disagreements, we take responsibility. But when he has committed to us, he has always fulfilled what he promised," he stated. The French leader also downplayed Trump's constant threats, both militarily and regarding the tariff war, which he attributed to the fact that "he wants to remind that the United States has deterrent capacity." But he added: "In no case should partners impose tariffs on each other."
