The G7 policy document on geopolitical matters adopted at the June 16-17 Évian summit —which President Donald Trump signed this time— asserts on Ukraine: 1) that because Ukraine is making “progress on the battlefield … there is now a new momentum” in this war; 2) “to support and accelerate this new momentum, we agree to increase the delivery of air defense capacities, additional systems and interceptors, and long-range capabilities… We are also ready to consider extending to Ukraine the benefit of licenses to allow for an increase in Ukraine’s military production.” (Ukraine’s Zelensky has mooted producing Patriot missiles in Ukraine); and 3) the G7 nations “commit to increase the pressure on the Russian war economy,” strengthening sanctions inclusively on its oil and gas sectors.
In the same time period, the U.S. Treasury did not renew its Iran-war-pivoted waiver of sanctions on Russian oil sales.
The liberal mass media on both sides of the Atlantic have used Trump’s signature on this G7 document to insist that “Trump has come around” on Ukraine. Whether that shift has been consolidated or not is being hotly debated in Russia—and in the West.
A June 22 Foreign Policy article on “The White House’s New Pro-Ukraine Tone Shift,” argues that “Ukrainian gains on the battlefield may be propelling a mood change among top U.S. officials,” who “appear increasingly enthusiastic about Ukraine.” It cautions, however, that more work needs to be done to ensure that the White House “turns words into action.”
