G7 leaders meeting in Évian-les-Bains, France, committed to bolstering Ukraine's air defenses and tightening sanctions on Russia's war economy as the full-scale invasion enters its fifth year, while also addressing urgent concerns about working families bearing the brunt of global trade imbalances and the need for ceasefire in Lebanon.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that the summit delivered important results for Ukraine, including additional strengthening of Ukraine's air defense, support for defense and energy resilience, and new sanctions on Russia. He said on X, "The G7 Summit in France delivered important results for Ukraine. Most importantly, we agreed on additional strengthening of Ukraine's air defense." He added, "Our partners will ensure support for our defense and energy resilience," and said they would also introduce new sanctions on Russia.
Unprecedented Convergence on Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron said the summit produced "unprecedented convergence" among G7 leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump, on maintaining support for Ukraine. The leaders of Japan, the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Canada and the U.S. said in a joint statement that they commended Ukraine for its resilience and progress on the battlefield in recent months and said there was now "a new momentum" in Kyiv's resistance. The statement said the G7 agreed to increase the delivery of air defence capacities, additional systems and interceptors, and long-range capabilities, and said the group was ready to consider extending to Ukraine the benefit of licences to allow for an increase in Ukraine's military production.
The statement also committed the G7 to increasing pressure on the Russian war economy by strengthening sanctions, including those on the oil and gas sectors, and to help Ukraine get through next winter. The summit also came as Ukraine 2 days ago officially started its EU membership negotiations. Zelenskyy was expected at a European Union summit in Brussels on Thursday.
Iran Deal Sparks Debate Over Regional Security
The Iran issue dominated part of the summit as Donald Trump responded to criticism of his ceasefire deal with Iran by warning that he was prepared to go back to dropping bombs and insisting the deal did not require the U.S. to pay even 10 cents to Iran. At a side meeting in Évian-les-Bains on Wednesday, he said that if Iran misbehaved he would "go back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head." He also said, "Anyone who wants to can invest. What do you expect me to say, no one is allowed to invest? But we're not investing; we're not putting up even 10 cents," and added, "If they [others] want to, they can make this investment. What should I say, no one can ever invest in this country?" He said, "I don't think the Gulf countries will do this for a while, until they see Iran's behaviour; this is a matter of behaviour."
The G7 statement welcomed the deal but said a follow-on agreement was necessary to rein in Iran's ballistic missile programme, which was not directly addressed in the memorandum of understanding due to be signed 2 days from now by Iran and the U.S. The statement said future negotiations with Iran would benefit from the involvement of a wider group of regional and international actors including the IAEA, the UN nuclear weapons agency. It said the agreement provided "an historic opportunity to prevent Iran from acquiring any nuclear weapon and tackling the threats related to its regional and ballistic activities. We support and are ready to contribute to its implementation." The memorandum agrees to immediately lift U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil exports and a series of related industries, and to create a $300bn reconstruction fund.
The Guardian said Iran was likely to reject the G7 proposal for further talks involving European leaders about Iran's ballistic missiles and support for proxy forces, and likely to reject France and Britain's plan for a taskforce to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The summit statement also called for a ceasefire in Lebanon.
China Trade Imbalances Threaten Workers and Industries
China's trade practices were near the top of the agenda as leaders gathered in Évian-les-Bains, and the G7 leaders said they were concerned that global imbalances had been persistent and widened in recent years. China last year recorded a global trade surplus of $1.2 trillion, Chinese exports to the 27-nation EU climbed 16.4% in January to May from a year earlier, and France's trade deficit with China rose to $5.3 billion from $3.3 billion a year earlier. French President Emmanuel Macron had warned earlier this year that Chinese exports were "literally killing a large part of the European industry" and that Europe was "slow to see that."
Economists David Autor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, David Dorn of the University of Zurich and Gordon Hanson, now at Harvard, found that competition from China had led to the loss of 2.4 million American jobs. Maurice Obstfeld, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, said, "China's export surge, unless its leaders rein it in, will provoke a protectionist wave against Chinese imports worldwide." Eswar Prasad of Cornell University said, "The second China shock is characterized by its companies running the board on manufacturing exports -- from low-tech, low-wage to high-tech high value-added industries," and added that this was directly hitting advanced economies where it now hurt the most.
The G7 leaders' statement said, "Countries with large and persistent external surpluses should strengthen domestic sources of growth," and that such policies could include lifting constraints on private demand growth, improving social safety nets and avoiding distortive policies with negative spillovers to other countries. Former U.S. trade negotiator Wendy Cutler, now senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said, "Beijing has been relying on the rest of the world to address its overcapacity problem," and added, "However, this unsustainable situation may soon change if the EU and others take steps to halt Chinese imports, following the U.S. lead."
Technology Sovereignty and NATO Security
Artificial intelligence and technology sovereignty were also prominent, with AI executives gathering at the G7 as Europeans sought checks on American dominance. The summit discussions included export controls, access to advanced AI models and Europe's push for sovereign computing power. G7 leaders vowed closer ties on AI as they hashed out a trusted partners scheme.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte played down the impact of the Trump administration's decision 14 days ago to cut back the number of troops and military equipment it would provide allies should they come under attack. Rutte said the U.S. was not withdrawing more troops from Europe and said, "This is not about where forces and assets are currently located," and, "It's about who would do what if our defense plans were activated. So, let's say in case of an Article 5 situation." He said the U.S. was scaling back how it might help should an ally trigger Article 5, but that it did not intend to withdraw its nuclear weapons in Europe.
The Guardian said Trump was under attack, including from some of his domestic supporters, for conducting a war against Iran that had ended in a negotiated deal that had met hardly any of its original objectives. It said the G7 leaders' joint statement suggested Trump had been willing to accommodate concerns of other leaders on Iran and Ukraine, and that Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, hailed Trump's signing of the G7 joint statement calling for further economic pressure on Russia as a gamechanger revealing a new realism by Trump on Ukraine.
Why This Matters:
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters its fifth year, the G7's commitment to air defense systems and energy resilience directly affects Ukrainian civilians facing ongoing bombardment and winter hardship. The strengthened sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sectors represent collective action to hold an aggressor accountable, while Ukraine's EU membership negotiations signal institutional support for democratic values. The China trade debate reveals how millions of workers—2.4 million American jobs lost according to researchers—bear the costs of global imbalances, underscoring the need for stronger social safety nets and policies that prioritize domestic demand growth over export surges. The call for improved social protections in surplus countries reflects recognition that trade policy has human consequences. Meanwhile, Europe's push for technology sovereignty and the debate over AI regulation highlight concerns about concentrated corporate power and the need for democratic oversight of transformative technologies. The NATO discussions reveal tensions over collective security commitments at a moment when multilateral cooperation remains essential for protecting vulnerable populations in conflict zones from Kosovo to Lebanon, where the G7's ceasefire call addresses urgent humanitarian needs.