G7 leaders were in an upbeat mood after Tuesday’s talks after Donald Trump said he had a “very good” meeting with president Volodymyr Zelensky and called on Russia to make peace with Ukraine.
“Look, Russia should make a deal,” Trump said, adding that too many young men were dying on the battlefield on both sides.
“I’m gonna do whatever I can,” he said.
Photos from the high-level summit showed Zelensky and Trump seated closely as secretary of state Marco Rubio observed the talks. Zelensky said G7 leaders agreed that Russia was not winning the war.
“It is important to coordinate positions,” Zelensky said on X, sharing the photos.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said Trump’s statement that Russia should end the war was cause for cheer.“I found him to be very cooperative, and I also saw him listening very attentively,” Merz said.
“The tide is turning for Ukraine,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen posted on X. “Russia’s fatigue is openly showing. That’s the time to double down on our support,” she said.
Watch: Starmer ‘ramps up pressure’ on Russia with new sanctions
Russian artist who mocked Vladimir Putin shot dead in Poland
A Russian artist who openly mocked president Vladimir Putin has been shot dead in Poland.
The 44-year-old exiled critic Robert Kuzovkov, also known as Semyon Skrepetsky, was killed in the city of Biala Podlaska, around 25 miles from the Belarusian border, on Monday morning.
Authorities said he was shot five times, including to his head, chest and back, in a car park near the Belarusian consulate.
Polish prosecutors said he was approached by a lone gunman and killed at close range. The gunman is said to have shot the artist twice before Kuzovkov fell to the ground, with three more shots as he lay on the ground.
Russian artist who mocked Vladimir Putin shot dead in Poland
Exiled artist was killed with five shots at close range, including one to the head, investigators saidArpan Rai17 June 2026 05:01
Trump fails to promise new sanctions on Russia
President Trump has been non-committal on imposing further US sanctions on Moscow, as European leaders want, diplomats say.
Mr Trump said Washington was now in a position to let Russian oil waivers lapse after an interim accord to end the Iran war soothed markets, but he did not mention broader punitive measures.
European leaders want to convince him that previous US positions on the possible terms of a deal were overly favourable towards Moscow, particularly now that Ukraine’s drone incursions into Russia have improved its fortunes.
Trump’s ‘very good’ meeting with Zelensky leaves G7 leaders optimistic
US president Donald Trump said Russia should make peace with Ukraine after a “very good” meeting with president Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, in comments that sparked cautious optimism among G7 leaders that a peace deal could be struck.
Trump, who arrived at the summit brandishing a preliminary deal to end his war with Iran, said he would do what he could do to end the conflict in Ukraine, but there were few details of any concrete steps to raise the pressure on Moscow.
“Look, Russia should make a deal,” Trump told reporters, adding that too many young men were dying on the battlefield on both sides.
“I’m gonna do whatever I can,” he said, leaving the G7 leaders in an upbeat mood.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said Trump’s statement that Russia should end the war was cause for cheer.
“I found him to be very cooperative, and I also saw him listening very attentively,” Merz told reporters.
“And in that respect, once again, it gives me a certain degree of optimism that we here, as Europeans and as Americans, are now doing everything we can, together, to end the war.”
“The tide is turning for Ukraine,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen posted on X.
“Russia’s fatigue is openly showing. That’s the time to double down on our support.”
Drones attack Russia’s Black Sea city of Novorossiysk
Russia’s Black Sea city of Novorossiysk, a major export port, is under drone attack, mayor Andrei Kravchenko said on Telegram this morning.
He said that the drone alert sirens were switched on, without providing further details.
Novorossiysk has been coming under repeated attacks in recent months as Ukraine looks to damage Russia’s infrastructure and war economy.
Russian warship fires warning shot at UK-registered yacht that came near it in English Channel
A Russian warship fired warning shots at a UK-registered yacht being sailed by a retired couple in the English Channel on Tuesday to prevent a possible collision, authorities said.
The Kremlin frigate Admiral Grigorovich fired several shots while sailing near the 40ft yacht, Bright Future, as it sailed around 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight. There were no injuries or damage caused during the incident.
Jane Kelvey, 68, and her husband Alan, 70, who were travelling on the Bright Future, described the incident as “a bit scary” on Tuesday night.
“I crouched down. I didn’t think our safety was in danger. But it was certainly unusual. As we sailed away, we said to each other, what the hell just happened?” they told The i.
Russian warship fires warning shot at UK boat in English Channel
The retired couple sailing on the yacht described the incident as ‘surreal’ after the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich fired several warning shotsArpan Rai17 June 2026 04:31
Four killed in Russian attacks on eastern Ukrainian cities
Russian attacks on cities in Ukraine’s east and southeast killed four people and set ablaze a residence and a shopping centre, officials and prosecutors said late on Tuesday.
Prosecutors in the Donetsk region, the focal point of Ukraine’s front line, said three people died in two bomb attacks in the city of Sloviansk. Five people were injured.
Sloviansk is part of the country’s “fortress belt,” heavily defended by the military and seen as key to containing a slow-moving Russian offensive in Donetsk.
In the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, national police said a wave of dozens of drones killed one person in his car and injured seven others.
Pictures posted online showed flames inside a building and on a rooftop and at least one facade reduced to rubble.
Regional governor Ivan Fedorov said there had been five strikes on the city. He said fire broke out in a residence and a shopping centre, and an educational institution sustained damage.
Russia bans use of motorcycles in Crimea, saying they sound like drones
Crimea has banned the use of motorised vehicles such as scooters, quad bikes and motorcycles at nighttime, saying they sound like drone attacks, Moscow-installed authorities said.
Sergei Aksyonov, the peninsula’s Russian-installed governor, said the ban, which he called a temporary measure to guard military and other important facilities, would be in place between 8pm and 6am from Wednesday onwards.
“The moped noise hampers the work of defence systems. Their engines sound similar (to drones),” Oleg Kryuchkov, Aksyonov’s advisor, said separately on Telegram on Tuesday.
“The enemy is recruiting your children for nighttime rides.”
The ban in Crimea, a popular summer tourist destination for Russians, does not apply to cars or larger vehicles.
Ukraine has recently intensified drone attacks on Crimea, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, targeting the peninsula’s supply routes and triggering a fuel crisis, as the holiday season starts.
Zelensky says he hopes to meet Trump again within hours
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said he hopes to meet Donald Trump again.
Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne showed a clip of Mr Zelensky saying at the G7: “Our teams will be meeting over the course of the next 24 hours at various levels and will continue to meet.
“I think that tomorrow we will also meet separately with the president (Trump).”
Two European diplomats said that, during the meeting, Mr Zelensky showed Mr Trump images of the aftermath of a Russian strike on Monday on Kyiv’s Pechersk Lavra monastery, which was badly damaged.
Mr Trump expressed disapproval of the strike, one of the European diplomats said, while the other said it had been psychologically a good move by Mr Zelensky to show him the images.
Pictured: Crime scene where Russian artist shot dead
Police work at a crime scene covered with a tent in Biala Podlaska, eastern Poland, where Russian artist Semyon Skrepetsky, known for satirising Russian president Vladimir Putin was shot dead.
Jane Dalton17 June 2026 03:00NewerOlder