Donald Trump joined the G7 leaders this week in Évian-les-Bains, and the summit was collegial. At the same time, the Russia-Ukraine war still ran on, with Volodymyr Zelensky present while Ukraine remained partially occupied after four years of Russia’s invasion.
Évian-les-Bains and the G7
The G7’s two big subjects were a peace deal with Iran and how to keep imperial Russia at bay. Russia was expelled from what was then the G8 in 2014 over the annexation of Crimea, and the return to that group setting is one reason the summit reads as a measure of how far the system has settled again.
That settlement is not total. The open international trading system has survived Trump’s tariffs, relations with China remain tense but orderly, Nato remains intact despite Trump’s threats of withdrawal, and more than 80,000 American military staff remain in Europe.
Ukraine, Europe and Zelensky
Volodymyr Zelensky’s presence in Évian-les-Bains matched a harder reality for Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is unable to annex more than about a fifth of Ukraine, there is still no opening to an early peace, and European aid to Kyiv has largely replaced US support.
Ukraine is making modest advances against a massively over-extended Russia. In practical terms, that means the front has not broken in Moscow’s favour even after four years of war, and Kyiv still has room to resist rather than bargain from collapse.
Tehran, Gaza and Cuba
The article’s larger claim is that Donald Trump has not dismantled the whole order even while he has shaken it. Trump’s tentative deal with the regime in Tehran looks like Barack Obama’s 2015 deal, with sanctions relief in return for verifiable restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programme.
That sits beside a sharper contradiction. Trump has given the Israeli military free rein in Gaza, the West Bank, Iran and Lebanon at different times, while also seeking to pull Benjamin Netanyahu back in conjunction with Arab neighbours; putting an end to Israel’s latest invasion of southern Lebanon will be critical to any stable Trump deal on Iran.
Trump has all but said that his next focus is Cuba, but no concrete next step is laid out. For Ukraine and Europe, the immediate test is whether the current balance holds long enough for Kyiv to keep its advantage and for the G7 to stay aligned without another rupture from Washington.
