The Group of Seven’s summit in the French lakeside town of Evian-les-Bains produced a rare display of unity on Wednesday, as leaders pledged a significant increase in military aid to Ukraine and tightened economic pressure on Moscow. In a joint statement hammered out overnight, the G7 committed to delivering additional air defence systems, interceptors and long-range strike capabilities, and said it was ready to consider licensing arrangements that would expand Ukraine’s own defence production. The communiqué, which German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described as the first such agreed text during Donald Trump’s second mandate, also promised support to help Ukraine “survive the next winter” and reaffirmed solidarity with a population whose critical infrastructure remains under attack. Trump, speaking after what he called a “very good” meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, insisted Russia should make a peace deal and vowed to do “whatever I can” to end the war, though his claim to have already settled eight conflicts drew scepticism from European diplomats.

That hawkish stance on Russia was made possible in part by a parallel diplomatic breakthrough in the Middle East. The leaders formally welcomed the US-Iran interim agreement—expected to be signed in Switzerland on Friday—as a “historic opportunity to prevent Iran from acquiring any nuclear weapon” and to address Tehran’s regional and ballistic activities. Crucially, the deal opens the Strait of Hormuz, allowing the G7 to announce it will diversify energy supply routes and reduce dependence on the chokepoint. This, in turn, gave the bloc the confidence to declare that “this is the right moment to move forward with additional measures” against Russia’s oil and gas sectors, explicitly linking the Iran breakthrough to the sanctions escalation. The leaders also demanded an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and called for the disarmament of Hezbollah, signalling a broader effort to stabilise a region where the war has claimed more than 7,000 lives, mostly in Iran and Lebanon.

Viewed from Washington, the summit allowed Trump to present himself as both a peacemaker in the Middle East and a hardliner on Russia, a balancing act that has often eluded his administration. European capitals, meanwhile, saw the joint statement as evidence that the transatlantic alliance can still function cohesively despite persistent anxieties over Trump’s instincts. The gathering also broke with tradition by hosting artificial intelligence executives for a session on protecting children online, but the geopolitical agenda dominated. Analysts in London noted that the Iran deal’s energy dimension is the hidden hinge of the summit: by easing fears of an oil supply shock, it has given the West room to squeeze Moscow’s war economy more aggressively without risking a spike in global prices.

Yet the path from communiqué to battlefield remains uncertain. Moscow has shown no sign of relenting, and Russian state media on the same day highlighted a major Ukrainian drone attack on a refinery as evidence of the conflict’s escalatory logic. Zelenskyy, for his part, said G7 leaders agreed that Russia was not winning, and the promised weapons deliveries could reinforce that assessment in the coming months. The real test will be whether the Iran deal holds and whether the promised military aid arrives in time to shape the next phase of a war now in its fifth year. For now, the Evian summit has drawn a line under a period of Western disarray, but the durability of that unity will depend on events far from the shores of Lake Geneva.