Speaking at the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, President Donald Trump publicly thanked his Chinese and Russian counterparts for their “neutral” stance during the recent Iran war, a gesture that underscored the shifting dynamics of great-power diplomacy. Trump told reporters that Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin had “made it a lot better” by staying out of the conflict, contrasting their restraint with what he described as a lack of assistance from traditional allies. The remarks came just after the adoption of a ceasefire memorandum between Washington and Tehran, and they highlighted the transactional lens through which the White House increasingly views international crises.

Viewed from Moscow and Beijing, the neutrality was a calculated choice. Russian officials had already stated at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum that no weapons were supplied to Iran during the hostilities, a position Trump acknowledged by noting that both powers “could have made it much more difficult for us.” Chinese and Russian media reported that the US president had explicitly asked the two nations not to sell arms to Tehran. The ceasefire deal itself brought a notable, if temporary, concession: German press reports indicated that the Strait of Hormuz would be toll-free for all shipping for a period of 60 days, easing the immediate threat to global energy supply chains that had escalated during the fighting.

European allies, however, viewed the episode with unease. Trump’s praise for Beijing and Moscow contrasted sharply with his repeated criticism of G7 partners, whom he chastised for not contributing more directly to the military effort. Analysts in London noted that the American president’s willingness to elevate strategic rivals while rebuking long-standing allies risked further fraying the Western alliance. The episode reinforced a pattern in which Trump’s foreign policy rewards great-power non-interference, even as it sidelines the collective security frameworks that have defined the post-war order.

Looking ahead, the ceasefire’s durability remains uncertain. The 60-day toll-free window in the Strait of Hormuz offers a breathing space for diplomacy, but underlying tensions between Iran and the West are far from resolved. Trump’s public gratitude to Putin and Xi may have secured their continued neutrality for now, yet it also signals to allies that Washington’s commitments are increasingly conditional. As the G7 summit concluded, the broader question hanging over the proceedings was whether this ad hoc concert of rival powers could evolve into a stable architecture for managing Middle Eastern flashpoints, or whether it merely papers over a deeper fragmentation of the international order.