French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday hailed the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains as "a success", adding that the multilateral talks between leaders demonstrated "a moment of unity and real cooperation" as he delivered closing remarks. Macron added that on the issue of the war in Ukraine, leaders at the summit agreed that Russia had shown "no serious willingness" to make peace, acknowledging that the US had now pivoted its support towards Kyiv.
French President Emmanuel Macron hailed the G7 summit, where a wide range of topics spanning Russia's war in Ukraine, the Middle East conflict and the impact of artificial intelligence were discussed, as a "moment of unity" after months of "disagreements" as the three-day meeting in France came to a close on Wednesday.
The summit was a "success" after months "characterised more by fragmentation, divisions and disagreements", Macron said at a press conference, calling it a moment of "unity, of meaningful discussion and of genuine cooperation among the leaders gathered here".
The French president also hailed the "remobilisation" of the G7 group of world leaders to ramp up pressure on Russia to broker peace with Ukraine.
Here are key takeaways from the summit.
War in Ukraine
Macron said the G7 leaders agreed there was "no genuine willingness" from Russia to make peace in Ukraine after Moscow rebuffed offers from the United States and Europe to engage in talks.
"President Trump, like all of us, simply acknowledged that there was no genuine willingness on Russia's part today to discuss peace," Macron said on the final day of the summit.
G7 leaders agreed to increasing supplies of air defence equipment to Ukraine more than four years into the war launched by Russia. They agreed to "increase the pressure on the Russian war economy" by strengthening sanctions, including on Moscow's fossil fuel revenues, the group statement issued at the close of the summit said.
Macron hailed a "very deep change in the US approach" towards Ukraine, saying that US President Donald Trump had understood that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not interested in peace.
"President Trump, like all of us, simply acknowledged that there was no serious willingness on Russia's part today to discuss peace."
Throughout the summit – which was attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – Trump took a harder line against Moscow, saying Russia had to seek a deal and showing impatience over the death toll on both sides.
G7 leaders also agreed to grant licences for Ukraine-based companies to produce long-range missiles and air defence systems, a diplomatic source said.
Middle East conflict
Macron called Trump’s tentative agreement a “very good deal”, adding that US allies in the G7 support it “because it’s an agreement that puts a stop to a situation of great instability that had terrible consequences for our economies”.
G7 leaders threw their support behind Trump's tentative agreement with Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz and further extend a shaky ceasefire – even though neither the White House nor Iran has publicly released the text of the deal.
Read moreWhat we know about the US-Iran memorandum of understanding
The accord, due to be formally signed in a ceremony in Switzerland on Friday, lays out that the US would move to end its own sanctions – as well as those imposed by the United Nations – on Tehran if a final agreement addressing Iran’s nuclear program is reached.
Macron added “it is vital that Iran, Hezbollah and Israel do not resume fighting”.
Artificial intelligence
The French president called for "better regulation" of artificial intelligence, echoing calls by some European members wanting more security to protect minors. Macron also warned of the risk of "non-cooperation between democracies".
Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI head Sam Altman, Anthropic chief Dario Amodei, Google's DeepMind AI lab chief Demis Hassabis, and their European rival Mistral AI head Arthur Mensch all attended.
G7 leaders called on tech firms "to develop and apply technology and systems that ensure safe, secure and age-appropriate experiences", according to a joint statement.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)
