‘I am the boss,’ Trump tells G7 leaders before morning session
Meanwhile, back to G7, the White House has published a video of the moment Trump arrived in the room for this morning’s session – and told other leaders “I am the boss.”
Oh, well.
Key events
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‘We are looking at’ sanctions on Russia as oil price coming down, Trump says
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Trump says he had ‘very good talks’ with Zelenskyy, Putin
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Killing of Russian artist has hallmarks of political assassination, Poland’s Tusk says
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‘Drones do not have borders,’ Latvia’s PM says as he calls for push to develop anti-drone measures
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‘We need more boots on the ground,’ Latvian PM says as he stresses ‘best way to protect us is to prepare for the worst’
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G7 leaders discuss AI with OpenAI, Anthropic CEOs
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What do you think? Let us know your thoughts on ‘not for sale’ protests in Albania
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‘Europe, can you hear us?,’ ask protesters in Albania as outcry over proposed Jared Kushner luxury tourism development continues
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Denmark to deploy battalion to Latvia this autumn to deter Russia
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Germany’s Merz welcomes G7 support for Ukraine, says ‘sets new tone’
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‘If they don’t behave, we will go right back to dropping bombs right smack in middle of their heads,’ Trump says on Iran
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Trump praises Macron, France for ‘great summit’
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Trump says he will host a press conference at the end of G7 summit
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G7 agreed on ‘new steps to put pressure’ on Russia, Zelenskyy says
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Italy keeping close eye on Trump-Meloni relations after tense months
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‘I am the boss,’ Trump tells G7 leaders before morning session
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Potential reopening of dialogue with Russia ‘clearly debated among allies,’ Rutte says
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‘We are not naive,’ Rutte says on reports China helps Russia with military training
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Nato faces ‘dynamic security environment,’ secretary general Rutte says
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Nato’s Rutte briefing media ahead of defence ministers’s meeting, summit next month
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G7 summit continues with talks on economic growth, AI – in pictures
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Can Trump be convinced to back Ukraine? – The Latest podcast
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Starmer’s waning influence is apparent at awkward G7 summit
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Morning opening: G7 commits to ‘unwavering support for Ukraine’
Trump also gets asked about Nato’s help in the strait of Hormuz.
He says “we don’t need them,” but “if they want to,” they can do it.
Trump gets asked if he thinks Putin is responsible for the war in Ukraine.
He says:
“I don’t want to comment on that, because I’m trying to get it settled, and that doesn’t make it easy.”
‘We are looking at’ sanctions on Russia as oil price coming down, Trump says
Trump also gets asked about whether he is going to impose further sanctions on Russia.
He says:
“We are looking at that, we’re seeing how far the price of oil comes down. It’s really tumbling, I guess, 74, 75 right now, … so it’s down, it’s soon going to be at the number that it was four months ago.
It’s pretty amazing, and on top of that, we will have an Iran without a nuclear weapon, which I can tell you, the prime minister [Modi] feels very strongly about that too.”
Trump says he had ‘very good talks’ with Zelenskyy, Putin
Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump is speaking at a bilateral meeting with Indian PM Narendra Modi.
He immediately gets asked for an update on Ukraine, and he says:
“Well, I had very good talks with President Zelensky and with President Putin, and we’d like to see that one end.
I ended eight wars, and to be honest with you, I thought this would have been one of the easier ones, but they’re not liking each other too much, and that makes it much more difficult.”
Jakub Krupa
We are still waiting for the post-G7 pressers.
We will bring them live as soon as they start.
Killing of Russian artist has hallmarks of political assassination, Poland’s Tusk says
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said the killing of a Russian artist who was critical of president Vladimir Putin has the hallmarks of a political assassination, AP reported.
Robert Kuzovkov, known by the pseudonym Semyon Skrepetsky, was shot and killed at close range near his home in the eastern Polish city of Biala Podlaska on Monday.
“Everything points to this being a political murder,” Tusk said at a news briefing in Warsaw.
“But we must wait for evidence or more concrete indications. Because if that was the case – if it was ordered by Russia – then it is an extremely serious matter internationally. It would constitute state terrorism.”
Tusk said the victim had been offered state protection by Polish police and security services amid concerns about his safety, but had declined the offer.
“The case is difficult. If there’s a hired killer involved, it’s unfortunately not easy to identify such a person,” he said.
Jakub Krupa
As we still wait for Macron and Trump to hold their respective press conferences, let me bring you an update from Poland on the killing of a Russian artist critical of president Vladimir Putin, which we also covered on the blog yesterday (Europe Live, Tuesday).
‘Drones do not have borders,’ Latvia’s PM says as he calls for push to develop anti-drone measures
Latvia’s Kulbergs also says that Europe needs to step up its anti-drone defences, learning from Ukraine’s experiences in shooting them down.
Nato members Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania have all had experiences with drone incursions over the last year.
Kulbergs says the situation requires “a close cooperation” between numerous countries, as “we know that drones develop” all the time.
“We know that the enemy learns fast as well, so this means anti-drone, identification, surveillance, the whole coverage,” he said.
He added this would be needed “not just [for] Latvia, but Baltics, … Poland, … Finland … because drones do not have [respect] borders.”
Nato’s Rutte says Nato is already working on it through its Eastern Sentry mission, too.
‘We need more boots on the ground,’ Latvian PM says as he stresses ‘best way to protect us is to prepare for the worst’
As we wait for more G7 leaders to give us their thoughts on the summit, Latvia’s Andris Kulbergs is speaking in Brussels, alongside Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte.
Kulbergs was only appointed late last month after the previous government, led by Evika Siliņa, collapsed over its response to repeated drone incursions into the country.
And Kulbergs makes it very clear that he thinks Latvia needs to be better prepared to respond to all sorts of security threats, primarily from Russia.
Answering questions from reporters, he has offered this stark assessment of the security situation in this part of Europe:
“We need more boots on the ground, and we need more allied forces presence in not only Latvia, [but] in Baltics, and Eastern Flank, and that is a necessary part in discussion and debate we had today together.
So the best way to protect us is to prepare for the worst, which means to have the best defence possible, and that will always be the part of deterrence, much better than doing less.
His comments come just hours after Denmark said it would send a battalion to Latvia later this year (13:46).
G7 leaders discuss AI with OpenAI, Anthropic CEOs
The afternoon session at the G7 summit was all about the rise of AI, featuring the leaders of OpenAI and Anthropic.
Let’s see some pictures from inside the room:
Jakub Krupa
Back to G7, we are expecting to hear from France’s Emmanuel Macron at some point this afternoon as the summit slowly wraps up.
I will keep an eye on this.
What do you think? Let us know your thoughts on ‘not for sale’ protests in Albania
And here, at the Guardian, we would like to hear from Albanians about how they view the protests against a planned luxury resort.
Let us know your thoughts.
‘Europe, can you hear us?,’ ask protesters in Albania as outcry over proposed Jared Kushner luxury tourism development continues
Albanians have been protesting for weeks against a planned luxury resort backed by a company linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Donald Trump, near Vlora, which is famed for its flamingos and a turtle nesting site.
If you are new to the story, here is the summary of what it’s about:
And thousands took to the streets of Tirana again last night:
Denmark to deploy battalion to Latvia this autumn to deter Russia
In other news, Denmark’s military will deploy a battalion of 850 troops to Nato member Latvia in the autumn, taking over from a Swedish contingent that was stationed in the region, Danish defence minister Jeppe Bruus said.
“It’s important that we play our part in deterring Russia. Everyone can see how the situation is unfolding, and it’s obviously a serious matter,” Bruus told reporters after giving a closed-door briefing to Danish parliamentarians, Reuters reported.
Europe is assuming more responsibility for its own security amid criticism from US president Donald Trump, who recently accused European Nato members of a lack of support in the Iran war and has announced a drawdown of troops from Germany.
Germany’s Merz welcomes G7 support for Ukraine, says ‘sets new tone’
We are going to hear from others leaders this afternoon too, including from the much-praised (12:52) host, France’s Emmanuel Macron.
Germany’s Friedrich Merz was one of the first ones out, praising the G7’s joint declaration of support for Ukraine (9:29).
“This is the first time since president Trump took office that we have issued a joint declaration at a G7 summit and found common language on the major foreign and security policy issues of our time. I consider that a real success,” he said in comments quoted by Reuters.
“This sets a new tone, including regarding transatlantic unity and resolve,” he added.
‘If they don’t behave, we will go right back to dropping bombs right smack in middle of their heads,’ Trump says on Iran
In another very normal Trump diplomacy moment, the US president is now telling reporters that the Iran deal is not really final yet.
“It’s not final. It’s a memorandum of understanding, and if I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs on their head.
If I don’t like it, if they don’t behave, we’ll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head, okay, because they’ve misbehaved for 47 years.”
He also says the Iranians “laughed at Obama” and added they “said he is a stupid son of a bitch.”
Make of that what you will.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jun/17/g7-leaders-evian-donald-trump-ukraine-russia-war-iran-latest-news-updates
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