G7 leaders agreed on Tuesday to intensify pressure on Russia to end more than four years of war against Ukraine, with US President Donald Trump saying Moscow should "make a deal" and indicating Washington could re-impose waived sanctions.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined the summit at the French resort of Evian, with both increased sanctions and the possibility of a face-to-face meeting between the Ukrainian leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin in discussion. Analysts say Ukraine is increasingly holding up well on the battlefield but its cities are still the target of deadly Russian attacks in a conflict that has now lasted longer than World War I.The summit of the G7 group of world powers notably brought Zelensky together with Trump, who has sought to reach out to Putin but also showed signs of losing patience with Moscow."Russia should make a deal" to end the war against Ukraine, Trump said after meeting Zelensky.He pointed to the high casualties on both sides in the conflict, the deadliest on European soil since World War II."The whole thing is ridiculous. So, yeah, I'm going to do whatever I can," Trump added.
He said the US will soon be able to reimpose sanctions against Russian oil after Washington imposed and then extended a sanctions waiver for Russian oil cargoes already at sea, troubling European allies."Soon we will be able to do that as the oil is now flowing" through the Strait of Hormuz after the deal with Iran to end the Middle East war, Trump said. - 'Things are changing' -British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said all the G7 powers were "in the same place" and there was "a real sense of unity in the G7, a sort of shared consensus that things are changing"."Ukraine has shown that it's able not just to defend itself but to take territory back and inflict quite significant losses on Russia," he told Times Radio.Starmer said Britain was imposing a raft of new sanctions against Russia, including on tankers that transport LNG, in a bid to pressure Moscow into halting the war against Ukraine.A French diplomatic source said after the talks "leaders decided today to increase the pressure on Russia through sanctions on gas and oil".
