Zelensky, Trump, Macron hold behind-the-scenes meeting at G7 summit as Ukraine pushes peace talks

President Volodymyr Zelensky met with U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France on June 16, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The meeting marked the first face-to-face encounter between Zelensky and Trump in nearly four months, as Kyiv seeks to revive stalled peace talks with Moscow.

The three leaders are now taking part in a joint working session with other G7 leaders, where Russia's war against Ukraine is a central topic of discussion.

They were notably the last three leaders to enter the room. The central objective of the mission was to secure Trump's backing, one person said.

The meeting came as Ukraine intensifies pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold direct talks with Zelensky — a face-to-face encounter that would be the first between the two leaders since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.

Zelensky has long argued that only Putin has the authority to end the war.

U.S.-mediated peace talks have effectively been frozen since February. Since then, Washington's attention has shifted toward its war with Iran, which both Ukrainian and U.S. officials say has become the main reason talks lost momentum.