EVIAN –  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined G7 leaders for a closed-door meeting on the war with Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron walked through the grounds of the Hotel Royal to greet Zelensky at the gate, giving him a hug.

The two held a conversation in English, plotting further meetings and the best way to handle President Trump, who has taken a strong stance against helping Ukraine.

Macron encouraged Zelensky to stay at the summit longer but Zelensky said he was expected in Brussels, presumably about Ukraine’s membership application to the EU. Macron asked him if he had arranged a bilateral meeting with President Trump and Zelensky appeared to say no.

White House officials, in a briefing call before the G7 summit began, said Trump would not hold a solo meeting with Zelensky but didn’t rule out a conversation on the sidelines.

That one-on-one doesn’t appear to have taken place yet. Trump arrived at the meeting 50 minutes late, walking into the conference room ahead of Macron and Zelensky, who had been meeting privately.

The French said Trump did not join that private meeting.

European leaders want Trump to support a peace deal on Ukraine’s terms – not on Russia’s.

Trump spoke both with Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday before he travelled to France. The president expressed optimism that “maybe we can do something” on Ukraine.

“They’re both open to it,” he said on Monday. “I had two very good conversations yesterday.”
Zelensky, for his part, proposed that he and Putin hold peace talks in the US, suggesting the idea to Trump when he spoke to the American president on Sunday.

For his part, Zelensky suggested Trump host a meeting with him and Putin in the United States when he spoke to the American president on Sunday.

“Yesterday, we discussed with President Trump that such a meeting could be organized in the US, in a format where Putin would find it much harder to refuse,” Zelensky said in a video posted on X on Monday before he headed to France. “We will see what comes of it. If Russia refuses this chance as well, additional pressure will be needed.”

Ahead of the G7’s start, Russia fired dozens of missiles at Ukraine’s biggest cities in a barrage that killed 11 people.

Zelensky’s focus has been on wooing European allies. He traveled to London last week for a meeting with Starmer, Macron and Mertz.