As a G7 summit opens in eastern France on Monday, President Emmanuel Macron is set to lead the allies' efforts to narrow differences with the United States on Iran, Ukraine, trade and big tech regulation.
Issued on: 15/06/2026 - 07:06
4 min Reading time
The three-day meeting in the French spa resort of Évian-les-Bains, on the shores of Lake Geneva, will be chaired by Macron and is expected to be dominated by the presence of US President Donald Trump. French officials want to avoid a repeat of the last G7 summit in Canada, when Trump left early. Macron has already moved the summit dates to fit Trump’s schedule, after the US president planned to celebrate his 80th birthday on 14 June with a mixed martial arts fight on the White House lawn. The summit will be one of the first major international gatherings since the US and Israel began a war in Iran in late February, widening tensions between the United States and its allies. Leaders will seek to advance efforts to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route whose closure has affected economies worldwide through soaring fuel prices. Trump's early departure casts shadow over G7 summit amid Middle East crisis A wider table Alongside the core members of the Group of Seven – France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – Macron has invited the leaders of Brazil, Egypt, India, Kenya and South Korea to the summit. Leaders from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will also be invited to take part in a special session on Tuesday on the Middle East war. “We need to ensure that we can, with President Trump, define common objectives, starting with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz,” a French presidential official told news agency AFP, speaking anonymously. Though China will not attend, Macron included Beijing in a videoconference with G7 members and emerging markets on Thursday to discuss global economic imbalances. G7 ministers meet in Paris to seek common ground on China and Middle East war Ukraine will also be high on the agenda. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend a session on Tuesday morning as leaders look to bring Russia to the negotiating table after more than four years of war sparked by Moscow’s 2022 invasion. “There are no concessions to be made to the Russians, nor is there any reason today to lift sanctions,” the French presidential official said. Trump’s approach to Ukraine has exasperated France, former US ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker told the Associated Press. Waning support from the Trump administration “has really irritated the French”, he said. “They feel this is important and we're not paying attention to it.” Strained friendship Despite a friendly beginning, the relationship between Macron and Trump has grown strained, with disagreements over tariffs, Ukraine and the Iran war. In April, Macron condemned as “brutal and unfounded” new tariffs that Trump imposed on steel, aluminium and a wider range of European imports in early 2025. At this week's summit, other G7 members are expected to press Trump to accept concessions on global trade imbalances in the face of Washington’s protectionist trade policies.
