Leaders of Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States have descended upon Évian-les-Bains, France, for what promises to be a very busy day of discussing Ukraine, the Middle East, and - gestures vaguely - the rest of the world currently in flames.
After last night’s arrivals, the group sat down this morning to tackle the big issues, starting with Ukraine. They were joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is presumably there to ensure U.S. President Donald Trump doesn’t get any bright ideas about cozying up to Russia without telling anyone in Europe first.
Just as the leaders were about to begin, Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian forces had struck a Moscow oil refinery overnight - a “response,” he said, to recent attacks on Kyiv. “Russia must be forced to end the war against our people,” he added, in case anyone was unclear on the message.
The agenda also includes the Middle East, relations with rapidly growing economies, a series of bilateral meetings, and a formal dinner tonight. Because nothing says diplomacy like eating canapés while discussing geopolitical crises.
But first, there was the small matter of actually getting everyone in the same room. EU President António Costa got yet another briefing and told the leaders the meeting would start in five minutes. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has clearly been here before, noted dryly that it was “five minutes five minutes ago.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, looking confused, asked if “they” were having a meeting upstairs. “The longer it takes, the better,” Carney seemed to mutter, which is either profound diplomatic wisdom or just Canadian patience.
Finally, Macron, Trump, and Zelenskyy walked in together. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz rushed over to Trump, offering him a German national team jersey - which Trump initially appeared to regard with the enthusiasm of a man being handed a tax form, but eventually posed with for photographers.
The doors closed to the media, and the meeting was finally about to start. But not before some confusion: an official briefed the leaders on the growing delay and thanked them for their patience. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni looked around and said, “We’re optimistic he will come,” apparently referring to someone speaking with Zelenskyy. Given that Macron, Trump, and Zelenskyy were all still MIA, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what was happening behind the scenes.
So the leaders of Canada, the EU, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the U.K. waited for the missing trio. At one point, it sounded like Meloni was telling a story involving the White House, but the details were lost to the ether.
Live footage eventually showed Macron deep in conversation with Zelenskyy, the French president walking casually with his hand in his pocket while Zelenskyy appeared to be explaining something. Last-minute tactical chat before meeting Trump, perhaps?
Meanwhile, the other leaders - Merz, Starmer, Meloni, Japan’s Sanae Takaichi, and EU’s Ursula von der Leyen - stood in a circle, waiting. The only snippets of conversation that could be made out were “ChatGPT” and Meloni mentioning cigarettes. Make of that what you will.
It’s Tuesday, 16 June 2026, and Jakub Krupa is here, bringing you Europe Live - the only show where the real drama happens before the meeting even starts.