The timing matters.
G7 foreign ministers meet in Paris from Monday for two days of talks, with European powers expected to press the United States towards a fair settlement for Ukraine and to discourage further military action against Iran, according to France 24. The gathering brings together ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
The agenda is strikingly familiar. Russia's war against Ukraine, launched with the February 2022 full-scale invasion, is grinding towards its fifth anniversary. Washington has still not ruled out new attacks on Iran, even after the defeat of President Donald Trump's Republicans in the midterms. All eyes will be on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is due to attend both days, unlike the March meeting when he came for only one.
The timing matters. The Paris meeting coincides with US-mediated talks with Moscow and Kyiv in Abu Dhabi scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday on ending the war, with Europe concerned that Kyiv must not be forced to accept disadvantageous conditions. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told RTL radio that "Europeans will be represented and France will be in Abu Dhabi to participate in these talks". Trump has stoked fears of a US pivot towards the Kremlin by predicting a "very big" deal with Russia involving not only the Ukraine war but "all of Europe". Jared Kushner, the president's envoy and son-in-law, said Washington was working on "a broader European security architecture that can help establish the conditions for lasting peace" — a concept Europe has met with scepticism in the past.
On Iran, Trump has not ruled out new strikes, including at the so-called Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected nuclear site Tehran denies is such a facility. Europeans are eager for a resolution and for shipping traffic to return to normal in the Strait of Hormuz, the energy transit hub. "We're dealing with them now," Trump said of the Iranians on Friday. "They want to make a deal very badly."
The meeting was long scheduled for Marseille but was moved to Paris at the last minute, with only scheduling reasons given. It is one of the final acts of the French G7 presidency, which saw President Emmanuel Macron host Trump at the leaders' summit in Evian this summer. Rubio's visit is his first abroad since the midterms, and Washington takes over the G7 presidency from France in 2027. On the sidelines, the French finance ministry hosts a donor conference on Monday to repair the dome protecting the Chernobyl reactor that exploded in 1986, damaged in a Russian strike last year. Around 500 million euros is required, but only just over half has been raised, with a target date of spring 2027. Marseille will still host the launch of a network of 14 global ports uniting against drug trafficking, Barrot said.
What the talks will actually produce is not yet known. No joint positions have been confirmed, and the source gives no detail on what the Europeans will offer or demand beyond their stated concerns. Whether Rubio arrives with concessions on Ukraine or Iran, and whether the Abu Dhabi talks converge with the Paris agenda, will become clearer only as the week unfolds.
