Back to G7, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy has taken to social media to hail a good G7-Ukraine discussion in France, thanking fellow leaders for their time this morning. “for the strong ideas on how to force Russia into peace.”
“Priorities are clear: more air defense missiles along with licences to produce them, winter support package,. cranking up pressure on Russia. Importantly, the US is ready to provide backstop across these lines of effort.
It is key that everything discussed be implemented. Russia must come to learn that its war will never be normalized. I thank everyone who’s helping.
… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today!
US president Donald Trump said Russia “should make a deal” to end the war ( 11:58 ). as G7 leaders met in Évian-les-Bains in France to discuss the latest in the fifth years of the Russian aggression on Ukraine.
His call comes amid growing calls for a renewed push to the end the conflict. with the German foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, suggesting they could take place before summer ( 14:26 ).
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked G7 leaders for “for the strong ideas on how to force Russia into peace” ( 13:24 ), saying they agreed that Russia was not winning the conflict ( 13:31 ). calling for further sanctions ( 13:33 ).
After meeting with Trump. Zelenskyy said the US president was also “very positive that they can help us with missiles,” as the Ukranian president keeps pushing for a licence to Ukraine to produce Patriot missiles locally ( 13:37 ).
Trump remained the main star of the first day of the event ( 10:01, 11:16 ), after confusing delay to the proceedings in the morning ( 9:51 ),. he got a German football team shirt as a belated gift for his birthday ( 10:16 ).
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Europe environment correspondent
Spanish households save €10 a month on electricity bills because of wind turbines. solar panels installed in the last five years, a report has found.
Typical energy bills would be 19% more expensive if electricity costs were still as tightly coupled to gas prices as in 2021. according to Ember, a climate thinktank. It found Spain’s “strategic” expansion of renewables since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 has shielded Spanish households from the latest rises in fossil fuel prices caused by the Iran war.
Burning fossil gas is one of the most expensive ways to generate electricity in Europe. even before considering the health costs of the carbon emissions. The influence of gas on electricity prices in Spain fell from 52% of hours in 2021 to 9% of hours in the first five months of 2026. according to the analysis. In Italy, which has the highest wholesale electricity prices in Europe, gas influences the price 75% of the time.
The report found electricity prices in Spain rose by about 50% in the first half of 2021 – in line with European gas prices –. remained “largely unaffected” by higher gas prices in 2026. The effects of volatility in the wholesale gas markets was seen only as higher price peaks during the dwindling periods when large volumes of gas had to be burned.
European community affairs correspondent
Sweden’s parliament has voted to escalate the country’s crackdown on immigrant rights, backing laws that allow authorities to revoke residency permits based on a vague criteria of bad behaviour. obliging most public sector workers to report anyone suspected of being undocumented.
The new legislation comes ahead of parliamentary elections in September. pitting the centre-right government, which currently depends on the support of the far-right Sweden Democrats to govern, against a far right that has said its intent is to create one of Europe’s most hostile environments for non-Europeans.
Late on Monday, parliamentarians voted to pass the so-called “good behaviour” law, which would cover pending. future residents but also be applied retroactively to many of the country’s current residents.
“Anyone who doesn’t make the effort to do the right thing shouldn’t be able to count on staying,” Sweden’s minister of migration. Johan Forssell, said in March when he proposed the bill.
While the law does not specify the types of behaviour that would be deemed unacceptable, the government has previously mentioned examples such as unpaid debts, failing to pay taxes, criminality,. links to extremist organisations.
The task of reviewing permits would fall to the Swedish migration agency, and any decisions can be appealed against.
Russian affairs reporter
In other news, a Russian artist critical of Vladimir Putin. the Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, has been shot and killed in the eastern Polish town of Biała Podlaska, a prosecutor has said.
Five shots were fired at the victim. including one to the head, in the attack on Monday, a spokesperson for the district prosecutor in Lublin said.
Two Belarusians have been detained but not charged in connection with the case, he added.
Local media identified the victim as Robert Kuzovkov, who was also known by his artistic pseudonym, Semyon Skrepetsky, a Russian artist. performer known for his criticism of the Russian leader.
The Belarusian opposition Telegram channel DzikMedia, citing unnamed sources, reported that an unidentified man had attempted to scale the fence of the country’s consulate in Biała Podlaska while fleeing police,. was apprehended.
Three days before he was killed, Skrepetsky had travelled to Berlin on Russia Day, a 12 June holiday marking the country’s declaration of sovereignty before the collapse of the Soviet Union, where he staged a protest with an icon-like caricature of Joseph Stalin. Putin, according to the Meduza news outlet.
A relatively unknown figure in Russian émigré artistic circles, Skrepetsky was born in Russia’s Altai region. lived there until 2021, when he left for Poland citing fears of political persecution.
He produced satirical caricatures of Putin, Kadyrov, the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Moscow has previously targeted critics abroad, but some Russian artists. commentators in exile said they believed the killing bore the hallmarks of an operation ordered by Kadyrov.
Keir Starmer has denied being snubbed by Donald Trump at the G7 in France after the two did not have a bilateral meeting at the summit.
The prime minister. who did meet the US president in a series of discussions involving other leaders, said he had a series of “very productive, very good conversations” with Trump.
He added that Britain was ready to play its “full part” in opening the strait of Hormuz after a peace deal between Iran. the US.
Earlier on Tuesday, Starmer was caught on a hot mic asking: “Are they having a meeting?” while Trump, Emmanuel Macron. Volodymyr Zelenskyy were absent.
Starmer, who announced new sanctions on Russia to target finance networks. expand the number of vessels targeted as part of Moscow’s shadow fleet carrying oil or liquified natural gas (LNG) to more than 600, said there was a “mood change” in the debate about Ukraine.
“[There is a] real unity in the G7 on Ukraine. a real sense that things are changing, that Ukraine is now taking territory, which it has done in the last few months, rather than defending territory, that the impact of sanctions is quite great on Russia,” he said.
“We’ve obviously put new sanctions in today,. there was a shared understanding around the table [ …] that the mood in Moscow is changing.”
Separately. as we get closer to the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum next week, we have just had the news that the second EU-UK summit will take place on 22 July in Brussels.
In a series of coordinated posts on social media, the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, said:
“Today I’ve agreed with @eucopresident that we will hold the second UK-EU summit on 22 July. My Labour Government is delivering on our promise to reset our relationship and put Britain at the heart of Europe.”
The European Council president, António Costa, said:
“Good discussion with prime minister @Keir_Starmer.
Close EU–UK cooperation is essential for our shared European security, resilience, and prosperity. We are working closely together to make our upcoming second Summit in Brussels on 22 July a success.”
The issue of how the future relationship between the UK. the EU could evolve further was discussed by EU ministers in detail last month, with political conclusion that the former member state shouldget no special treatment in its future economic relationship with the bloc.
at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains
European leaders at the G7 summit have urged Donald Trump to try to break the deadlock over ending the Ukraine war by taking up the proposal for him to host talks in the US between Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Vladimir Putin.
The US president lamented “the great antipathy” between the Ukrainian. Russian leaders that made it difficult to reach a settlement, and vowed to do what he could. He said Moscow “should make a deal”, noting that it had “lost a great many people, just like Ukraine”.
Zelenskyy. attending the summit in the spa town of Évian-les-Bains at the invitation of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, is attempting to re-engage Trump in the hope that the US administration will be less distracted now it has agreed a 60-day ceasefire in Iran.
Macron. caught on a hot mic at the summit, was heard admitting to Zelenskyy he had had difficult discussions with Trump on Monday concerning Ukraine.
Zelenskyy – who did not initially have a bilateral meeting with Trump scheduled – eventually met the US president alongside Macron for his first face-to-face meeting in four months.
He tried to convince Trump that Ukraine was no longer losing on the battlefield,. the US role should not be that of a messenger between the two sides but of a mediator supportive of Ukraine. The meeting delayed the start of the full summit.
But Trump did appear to suggest he could reimpose some sanctions on Russian oil. though (or, technically speaking, let waivers expire).
Asked about the possibility of tightening sanctions on Russia, he said:
“Well, soon we’ll be able to do that because the oil is now flowing. So we put. we took sanctions off, because obviously we’re not looking to impede the oil, so we’re in a position to do that soon … at some point.”
Trump gets asked about his decision to stay a bit longer for a formal dinner hosted by the French president. Emmanuel Macron, at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday night.
The dinner will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the US independence.
“ I’m a fan of beautiful places, and… the French president, who happens to be a very nice man, invited me to dinner at Versailles …. Versailles is not a gold leaf, Versailles is the real deal.
And I said I’d like to do it, I mean, you know, all it means is that I get home later in the evening, meaning early in the morning,. I’m not a big sleeper anyway.”
We don’t get more on Ukraine, though.
Meanwhile, Trump is speaking to reporters again, after his meeting with the president of the UAE.
He is currently talking about the Middle East. Iran – we cover all of that on the Middle East blog - but I will pick up any lines on Ukraine and Europe.
Meanwhile. the German foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, suggested that some talks on ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine could begin before summer.
Talking to RTL/NTV broadcasters. Wadephul said neither party appeared to have an upper hand on the battlefield, with the war effectively stuck.
“There is now a chance, I think, to begin talks this summer,” Wadephul was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Referring to Putin, he added: “He may now be at a stage where he is seriously considering it.”
Zelenskyy also briefly talks about business. Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction, stressing the importance of international security guarantees to underpin that process.
Zelenskyy gets asked about China. if he would be prepared to speak to Xi to end the war with Russia.
He effectively says that yes and that he is ready to talk to whoever can help with ending the war.
Zelenskyy also gets asked about his talks with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz,. his idea of an associate membership of the EU.
He praises Merz. says he is clearly on Ukraine’s side and stresses that he knows that Ukraine is hopeful on getting some sort of fast track to the EU membership.
He says if that does not happen. Russia “will find a way to block Ukraine’s way to EU.” “They don’t want to see us successful,” he says.
He says Ukraine wants the same membership as other countries, “not better, but not worse.”
Separately, he posted on social media that the pair also discussed “defence support for Ukraine,” including on air defence.
Zelenskyy gets asked about Trump’s infamous comment from last year that Ukraine does not hold any cards.
He says that the situation on the battlefield is changing, with Russia increasingly struggling on the battlefield.
Despite the Kremlin’s denials ( 12:04 ). he repeats his claim that he had suggested inviting Putin to join the talks.
He calls for talks with Putin before this winter. says they should take place in a third country, like Switzerland, Turkey, the US, or one of the Middle East countries.
“ It was terrible winter for us,. but … we don’t want to go through the same winter of course … and Russia has to know that we had terrible winter and they will have also not [a] simple [one]” this year, he says.
He confirms he discussed his proposals with Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich recently.
Zelenskyy says that he needs the US president. Donald Trump, to put more pressure on Russia, as he says “Trump can do it, or only maybe only him.”
He says Trump was also “very positive. they can help us with missiles,” as Zelenskyy keeps pushing for a licence to Ukraine to produce Patriot missiles locally.
He says he “hopes it [will be] a yes.”
Zelenskyy also says he wants the EU to build a “European anti-ballistic system,”. “otherwise we will [all] not have enough.”
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