Delicate G7 talks and a spectacular finale for “Boss” Donald Trump

The scene illustrated the partners’ dilemma at the almost three-day summit in Évian-les-Bains, France. It was important not to antagonize Trump despite his moods and verbal excesses in order not to jeopardize the results of the meeting and the publication of nine thematic final statements.

At least, unlike a year earlier in Canada, the 80-year-old was not able to leave early, as a lavish dinner awaited him after the international encounter Palace of Versailles including light show and visit to the Hall of Mirrors.

“A nice guy”

The official occasion was the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States, in which France took part militarily. The building of the former Sun King Louis He is “a nice guy”.

At the final press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Macron pointed out with pride in his voice that the summit organized by France was “objectively a success”. At a time of global fragmentation and after months of disputes, it led to “unity, meaningful discussions and real cooperation between partners”.

In fact, a breakthrough was achieved: In a joint statement, the G7 committed to “standing united with Ukraine” and praised its resilience and recent progress on the front lines, which led to “new momentum”. All seven countries, including the United States, promised to supply air defense systems, interceptor missiles and long-range weapons. By approving licenses, the country could expand its own arms production. In addition, the tightening of sanctions on oil and gas will increase the pressure on Russia’s war economy.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) pointed out that there had been joint G7 declarations for the first time since Trump took office and that a “common language had been found on major foreign and security policy issues of our time”. With regard to support for Ukraine from this circle, “a new tone” has been set, said Merz, who announced a follow-up meeting together with the heads of state and government of France, Great Britain, Italy and Poland in Berlin.

In the G7 final document, support for Ukraine is explicitly linked to Trump’s previous framework agreement with Iran and the hope for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The agreement, which was reached under Trump’s “determined leadership,” is welcomed, it says. It offers a historic opportunity to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

A “fantastic deal”

Only after the publication of this statement did media reports reveal details of what Trump called a “fantastic deal”. Accordingly, it speaks of an “immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon”. After the signing on Friday, the US will lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf and Iran will commit to reopening the movement of merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days. According to the reports, the USA and partner countries are even promising to finance the reconstruction of Iran to the tune of at least 300 billion US dollars. All sanctions should therefore be lifted

The US will release Iran’s “frozen or restricted assets” during ongoing talks while the country pledges never to produce nuclear weapons. The document has not yet been officially published. It was said that we would have to wait for the signature from both sides on Friday.

A new format was adopted for the final lunch on Wednesday. While these are usually discussions among heads of state and government, the heads of several leading AI companies such as Sam Altman from Open AI, Dario Amodei from Anthropic and Arthur Mensch from the French AI provider Mistral were present. One focus was on the fight for greater protection of children from the risks of the digital world. Among other things, there were demands for more effective age controls, consistent action against sexual abuse and deepfakes as well as more transparency, but no minimum age for using social media. Both France and Great Britain are planning something like this.