Trump to participate in G7 working session with Zelensky: official / Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI - AFP
Trump to participate in G7 working session with Zelensky: official
US President Donald Trump will take part in a G7 working session with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in France on Tuesday, but no bilateral meeting between the two is scheduled, a senior administration official said.
"On Tuesday morning, President Trump will participate in a working session with G7 leaders and President Zelensky of Ukraine," the official told reporters Saturday on the customary condition of anonymity.
The G7 summit will take place in Evian on June 15-17, and Trump is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings on its sidelines with French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as the leaders of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and India, the official said.
Trump is also scheduled to dine at the Versailles palace west of Paris with Macron on Wednesday evening, after the summit wraps up.
The dinner is a way to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence in a "landmark of Franco-American friendship where the treaty establishing the independence of the United States was signed in 1783," according to Macron's office.
Trump has shifted his attention away from efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February, igniting another conflict that has been under a fragile ceasefire since April.
"Obviously, President Zelensky is gonna be at the session that we're doing. They very well may meet with each other on the sidelines," the official said, stressing that a formal bilateral meeting was not currently on Trump's G7 agenda.
The official said the 79-year-old billionaire Republican was the "only" world leader capable of ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, but did not elaborate.
The status of US-Iran talks aimed at ending the Middle East war will be a dominant concern at the G7 summit.
One topic of discussion among attendees could be the participation of France and Britain in mine-clearing operations in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the senior administration official.
The waterway off Iran, a critical trade route for oil and fertilizer, has been largely closed to shipping due to the war.
The US official sought to downplay tensions between Trump and his allies regarding the US commitment to NATO -- an alliance whose leaders will be well-represented in France.
"When we have private conversations with the governments of our NATO allies... it's a very easy conversation. It's not at all as its kind of hysterically presented in the press," the official said.
"We are very happy with the some of the burden-shifting that's going on, and we need to see more of it."
Another US official praised France for placing trade imbalances on the summit agenda -— a central theme for Trump, who has launched a global protectionist offensive centered on aggressive import tariffs on friends and foes alike.
According to the White House, the US president intends to discuss artificial intelligence, immigration, innovation, and energy with his partners. The G7 comprises Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
Trump has advocated for including Russia and thereby restoring the former G8 format.
F.Hassan--CdE
