KANANASKIS, Alberta—A day after President Trump signaled that Ukraine wasn’t a top priority, and following Russia’s deadliest attack on Kyiv in weeks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky left a summit of the Group of Seven industrial nations without the support he had hoped to rally.
The U.K. and Canada pledged new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, and leaders expressed support for Ukraine in social-media posts and public statements.
But a short summary of leaders’ discussions on Ukraine, which expressed support for Trump’s efforts to end the conflict, lacked the forceful condemnations of Russia’s invasion that previous G-7 communiques have contained.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for a bilateral meeting during the G7 Leader’s Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada June 17, 2025. REUTERS/Amber Bracken
Zelensky arrived by helicopter at the G-7 summit in the Canadian Rockies on Tuesday, after Trump had already left ahead of schedule on Monday, saying he had to return to Washington to focus on Israel’s clash with Iran.
European leaders want to keep the Trump administration engaged in supporting Ukraine, including by providing military intelligence and equipment, and convince Trump to back more sanctions to hurt Russia economically. They hope that would push Russia into accepting a cease-fire.
“We need support from our allies,” Zelensky said in brief remarks before entering a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney . He said Ukraine is ready for peace negotiations and an unconditional cease-fire, “but for this we need pressure.”
The summary said G-7 leaders would seek to maximize pressure on Russia and recognized that Ukraine had committed to an unconditional cease-fire and Russia should do the same.
Previous G-7 communiqués have condemned Russia’s invasion as an illegal war of aggression and emphasized enduring support for Ukraine. Carney said the language in his summary was discussed by G-7 leaders during a Monday night dinner Trump attended.
“There would be things that some of us, Canada included, would say above and beyond what was said in the chair summary,” he said in a press conference.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks on the phone ahead of a meeting at the 6th European Political Community summit, at Skanderbeg Square in Tirana, Albania, on May 16, 2025. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS
Trump, who has sought to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, suggested this month that both sides might need to keep fighting before they are ready to make peace. On Monday, he expressed coolness toward tightening sanctions.
“When I sanction a country, that costs the U.S. a lot of money—a tremendous amount of money,” he said. “Sanctions are not that easy.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) has introduced a Russia sanctions bill that would impose 500% tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil. He has said it would give Trump more leverage to end the war. Trump had earlier referred to the plan as a “harsh bill” and warned that it would need his approval.
Trump also criticized ejecting Russia from what had been the G-8 following Russia’s 2014 seizure of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. “I think that was a mistake,” Trump said. “I think you wouldn’t have a war right now if you had Russia in.”
Trump’s early departure from the G-7 summit means he missed a planned breakfast discussion on Tuesday about Ukraine, which Zelensky joined along with North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Mark Rutte . Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attended the breakfast instead of Trump, according to people familiar with the summit’s organization.
Overnight, Ukraine was hit by a barrage of Russian missiles and drones that killed at least 15 people and wounded 75 others, Zelensky said in a social-media post. The attacks reduced part of an apartment building to rubble and struck private residences and dormitories in Kyiv.
Zelensky has said he wants Ukraine’s allies to tighten sanctions targeting Russia’s oil and financial sectors.
“The United States, the European Union and the G-7 countries have the power to make this happen,” he wrote in a social-media post on Sunday.
The EU proposed a new sanctions package this month, including a push to lower the existing price cap on Russian oil to $45 a barrel from $60. The price cap, backed by G-7 countries in 2022, prevents companies from providing financial services for Russian seaborne oil shipments unless the oil is sold below that level.
They also proposed new measures targeting Russian banks that would effectively end efforts to revive Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines to Germany and a ban on refined products from third countries based on Russian oil.
The leaders discussed the price cap and the recent rise in oil prices during the summit on Monday. Higher prices could complicate the EU proposal, which was made when oil prices were close to the $60 price cap.
European and other officials worry that the U.S. is pursuing a deeper relationship with Russia while curbing its support for Ukraine.
Zelensky and Trump clashed during the Ukrainian leader’s visit to the Oval Office in February . A subsequent meeting at the Vatican was “very productive,” a U.S. official said.
Trump and Zelensky are expected to attend a coming NATO summit in The Hague, which starts on June 24.
Write to Kim Mackrael at [email protected] and Vipal Monga at [email protected]
